The Last Mudblood
by WeWantsIt
Summary: Only 5 years after Voldemort's fall the Wizarding world is under a new Dark rule. Hermione finds herself the last mudblood on the run with the traitor Draco Malfoy. How did it come to this? Secrets, lies, and lust... and the bad nobody admits is in them. CH 13 UP!
1. The Mark

Disclaimer: I don't really like putting these on all chapters, so consider this a disclaimer for the whole story: I don't own anything Harry Potter related and I just like to play in its world!

Summary: Only 5 years after Voldemort's fall the Wizarding world is under a new Dark rule. Hermione finds herself the last mudblood on the run with the traitor Draco Malfoy. How did it come to this? Secrets, lies, and lust... and the bad nobody admits is in them.

Rating: M. Very dark. Language. Violence. Sex (though probably no lemons but definitely a theme in the story).

A/N: Yes, I'm reposting the first three chapters because guess what? I got a beta! And she's great! Thank you, Sierra, for making this story more than I thought it could be! :) Please bare with me as I get this story up. It won't be as fast as my other stories, but this one needs more time as it's much more complex.

**The Last Mudblood**

Chapter One

She dashed down the alley in the pouring rain. The cement beneath her was slippery wet. She was making a lot of noise with her fast steps as she ran away from one of them, but it didn't matter. She had a Disillusionment Charm cast on her the moment she decided to step back into London, which was a bad choice altogether, but it didn't matter now. The current objective was to get the fuck out of wherever she was and take as many down with her as possible.

"_Finite_!" the man yelled behind her, and instantly she felt the charm remove itself.

"Fuck," she muttered under her breath. She turned around swiftly, pointed her wand at him while still running and thought "_Avada Kedavra_!" A jet of green light flew right into his chest and he fell on the spot instantly, dead.

She wasn't stupid. There were more behind him, so no need to stop and gloat about her latest kill. She kept running, dashing into another alley. She heard others coming and was hoping to reach the barrier where she could finally Apparate out of the awful city. She didn't know why she thought it was possibly safe enough to come back, but again, her main focus was to survive.

The steps were faster and getting closer. She guessed there were probably three of them on her tail now. An easy kill, but not on a dark night in the pouring rain, and not when she'd be bombarded by more when once she was through with them.

"_Stupefy_!" one of them cried, sending a jet of red light that narrowly missed her as she turned another alley.

Unfortunately, as she turned, she ran into someone and fell over.

"Fuck!" she screamed, trying to get up as fast as she could and kill whoever just bumped into her. She was definitely slowed down and any minute now they'd catch her and now she had to deal with this one.

She didn't have time to kill the person, however, because under his black, hooded cloak, he yelled, "_Petrificus Totalus_!" and she was immobile on the floor.

Fuck, she was dead now. She didn't know who it was and why he didn't just instantly kill her, but she thought maybe it was because he wanted to collect a reward for her capture, or maybe her disguise worked and she wasn't noticed. She had a high bounty price over her head, after all, and the new leader of the Dark side probably wanted to do away with her himself.

But she was surprised in all her anger when he pulled out a cloak from beneath his robes and threw it over her body. It was Harry Potter's cloak. She wanted to stab whoever was beneath the robes until he begged for her to just finish him already. How dare he use Harry's cloak? Fucking bastard.

He threw off his hood as the three men approached, and Merlin's fucking beard, it was the second in command to the leader himself.

"Draco," said one of the three men, panting, "We were chasing someone – we think it's her, sir."

Draco Malfoy looked at them coldly and said, "No one's been here."

"But, sir, we saw her kill someone. She didn't even need to say anything -" another one said.

Draco cut him off. "Are you implying that I am blind? That I may have missed Hermione Granger herself?"

"She may have Disapparated…" the third one said.

"Or climbed the building," said the other.

"No," the first one said stubbornly, "I saw her turn this corner – I did!"

Draco hissed at them, "Get out of my sight before I kill you myself!"

The three cowered and quickly ran off.

Without any words, Draco flicked his wand and moved a dumpster out of the way. Beneath it was a small trapdoor. He opened it and pointed to Hermione, levitating her down into the trapdoor.

Fuck, she was _really_ dead now.. She knew she'd die eventually, but she certainly didn't want it to be by the hands of Draco fucking Malfoy. She'd rather just have been killed by whoever led this fucked up rule himself, not this ass-kissing coward. At least then she would've had a challenge.

Hermione found herself lying on the floor in a dark and cold room, still immobile. Draco came down after locking the trapdoor and lit some candles. Hermione could see the room now. It was the size of a broom closet, with only two chairs and a wooden storage for what she guessed was food and drinks.

Draco took the cloak off of her and put it back inside his robes. With another flick of his wand he had her tied to a chair and gagged with some piece of cloth that tasted like dirt in her mouth.

She glared as he looked at her intently. He might not know who she was, not if he didn't look closely. She made sure to make herself as naturally different looking as possible, refusing to use magic since it could be easily countered. She dyed her hair black, had it sleeked straight and falling all the way down to her lower back, and wore green eye contacts at all times. Under her form-fitting black robes she wore a black long sleeve turtle neck and straight-legged black pants. She looked nothing like anyone had remembered her.

But she figured they probably knew that she'd changed her look. Still, she hoped the idiot Draco wasn't smart enough to see that.

"It is you," he finally said darkly. "Don't try anything. I've got your wand and you're tied up by ropes that won't budge under any circumstances but my own. _Finite_."

Hermione could feel her limbs again just as Draco removed the cloth on her mouth.

"Why haven't you killed me yet, you piece of shit? Waiting to be rewarded by the big boss?" Hermione said ruthlessly.

"I don't need any rewards from him," Draco spat out darkly.

"You're so fucking pathetic, Draco. Either take me to him or kill me yourself."

He remained patient, but had a hard look on his face. "I'm not going to take you anywhere or kill you."

Hermione thought he might try something stupid, like rape her. "If you even think about touching me I'll kick you in the balls so hard you'll think you'd lost them. And before you could even recover I'll have castrated you with my bare hands."

He didn't look at all alarmed at this. She figured he'd probably heard worse from other of her friends who'd been in the same situation before they were killed.

Some stirring from above had Draco's eyes widen and he began cursing, "Fuck." He set a couple more wards on his trap door, and for good measure he said, "_Muffliato_."

"Now you listen here, you prat. Any moment now, everyone up there is going to figure out that they need to capture me too. So you listen or we're both fucking dead."

Hermione gave a cold laugh. "You expect me to believe that?"

Voices above could be heard. The conversation sounded shocked and angered at the same time.

"He's defected? Draco Malfoy's defected?" one said.

"Bloody hell," another muttered, "It must be a mistake. Why the fuck would Malfoy defect?"

"No idea," the first replied.

Hermione couldn't pay attention anymore because of Draco's booming voice.

"Pay attention. They're going to figure out this trap is here and find us. Are you going to cooperate or not?" he yelled through gritted teeth.

"I don't need to cooperate with you. Just fucking kill me and go run along," Hermione spat. She'd honestly rather die than be on the run with Draco, especially after all the bad blood between them now.

He suddenly lifted the sleeve on his right arm and there branded was the mark of the Deathly Hallows – Harry's mark.

Hermione's eyes went wide. But she knew, right? That's why she was here. Because the tally under the mark went back to two from one so someone else had to have had the mark too. Her eyes darkened when she realized it wasn't because one of them had come back to life…

"What did you do to him? Where is he?"

"You know what happened to him," Draco said coldly.

There was no way anyone other than Harry Potter could have given Draco that mark because Harry was the only one who had the power to do it. But there was no way Draco could have gotten it from Harry, not unless it was by force.

"How'd you get it?"

"He gave it to me."

"Fuck you. You're lying," she said.

"Yes, I'm lying," he rolled his eyes. "You know just as well as I that Potter was the only one who could give me this mark."

Banging on the trapdoor above finally had them ending the conversation at hand. A cup on the floor was turning blue. Draco quickly waved his wand and Hermione was no longer tied up. She stood up and was about to kick him and retrieve her wand, but she realized that she couldn't move her right arm without moving Draco's left arm. He had them bound by some invisible chain. She glared at him.

"Take it off," she said.

"Portkey. Touch it now!" he said. When she didn't, he just tugged on his left arm and had them both touching it and spinning into the darkness.

They landed on a very cold floor. There were small cells in the stony hall around them and nothing but a single candle down the hall.

"Where are we?" Hermione asked, as he forced her to get up.

"The dungeons at the Manor. There are some things I need to get before we go," Draco said and ran down the hall. At the end of the hall there was a door that opened to a small office space. There were books on shelves, lit candles, two dark chairs in front of a desk, and one large chair behind the desk. The desk already had many possessions that Draco started putting in a small black bag that was on the desk.

"Give me my wand," Hermione demanded.

"No. You're going to run away," Draco said absentmindedly.

"Of course I'm going to leave. What makes you think I want to stick around with you?" She asked hotly. Even though Draco had Harry's mark, she wasn't completely sure of what the hell was going on, and Draco Malfoy was the last person she wanted to start trusting. She didn't trust anyone other than Harry for the last year, and she wouldn't start now.

Draco slammed his fist on the table unexpectedly, slamming her hand with it. She yelped and cursed wildly.

"Potter told me to keep you around, okay? I'd like nothing more than to have left you to die and do this by myself, but he made me swear-"

Hermione interrupted, "What makes you think I believe that rubbish?"

"Didn't you see the mark? Fuck, Granger. Think. And shut up for a second." Draco continued to pack things into the small black bag. She suspected it was charmed to fit more than it looked like. He threw in a few vials of liquids, a broom, a knife, some small boxes, and some rolls of parchment.

"Fuck you," she said, though her tough exterior was beginning to fade. It was clear that Harry had entrusted something to Draco before he was killed. Though she came back to London expecting to die and take down a few with her, Draco clearly had a plan - possibly Harry's plan - to carry out, and she was obviously supposed to be a part of it.

Harry and Hermione had been the last survivors as told by the mark of the Hallows on her right arm. Under the mark were lines indicating the number of survivors Harry had managed to mark, survivors that were still on the run, attempting to take down anyone they could with them. Over the last year, the ten lines disappeared one by one, sometimes two by two, until only two lines were left. The morning when Harry and Hermione discovered that it was only them two left they looked at each other, both unable to express anything but worn, hard faces.

In the beginning they used to weep. They used to clutch each other at night under the invisibility cloak and a few protective wards. After the lines went down to five, they stopped crying and focused solely on surviving and killing as many of the bad guys as possible. They had become vicious murderers. Both of them finally knew what it was like to kill, to rip the soul apart. They'd killed so much, learned so much Dark magic, and acquired so many Dark and useful skills, that Hermione wondered if what they were doing would grant them a free pass to hell itself, but she decided she didn't care. In that year, they needed to survive.

They knew nothing of how it all happened, only gathered information from random passersby and strangers who'd mentioned it in different places, different countries.

"Draco's behind it," whispered one person while they were still in the UK, thinking some parts may have still been safe.

"Not really, he's only second in command," the other hissed, "No one talks about who he's under…"

When Harry and Hermione heard this particular news they looked at each other darkly. Hermione's thoughts consisted of mainly how much of a fucking traitor and coward he was and how could they be so foolish to believe Draco had actually been their friend?

Another time, Hermione and Harry overheard another couple of people discussing it in Scotland.

"His parents – the Malfoys – they're dead," said a woman.

"Wonder if Malfoy knows it was all planned by their friends–"

"Would you shut up? You don't know who could be listening!"

Harry and Hermione found out that a fair amount of muggle-borns and blood traitors in the UK died in the explosion and those that managed to get away or just didn't show up were being hunted and important ministry officials had already been killed during the night of the explosion. It was a coup of the Wizarding world in the UK. The Dark side had taken over in the UK completely. Other Wizarding Ministries of different countries refused to help the UK. It was a danger zone and no one wanted to get involved for fear of their own country falling as well, so they just pretended the UK didn't exist. A simple X on the map.

The newspapers from London later confirmed the tally on their mark, declaring that Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were the last of the tainted who needed to be captured and killed. It was the Undesirable hunt all over again.

Harry soon became delirious and Hermione didn't know why. After all, she'd been through just the same but she managed to numb it. But Harry was cracking. It was like he couldn't do it anymore. He started saying that they needed to go back to London to find the rest of them.

"They're dead, Harry," Hermione said in a soft but very blank voice. "All of them. Everyone: Luna, Neville, George, Lavender, Dean, Percy, Ron and Ginny. The mark says so."

Harry told her she was being a pessimist and the mark could make mistakes and he gave her the cold shoulder for the rest of the day. He must have run off in the middle of the night to try and save nobody, because the next morning Hermione found herself alone. By night time, there was only one line under the mark.

She was the one that everyone was hunting for now. She was the last mudblood.

ooo

Read and review and let me know what you think!


	2. Golden

**Chapter Two**

Draco found it hard to focus with everything that had happened lately, but he had to. He had trained himself to put aside his feelings in order to survive.

But it was like the last week wanted to break him.

It was hard enough to think as it was, and Hermione was being a bitch and asking ridiculous questions he really had no time to answer. He wanted to put a gag on her again but decided against it. He had them bound together, and she was already upset about that. Eventually, they would need to work together. He'd rather do it without yelling at each other 24/7, so he decided to be slightly civil - which meant just keeping his mouth shut for the moment.

"You pureblooded, insolent, ass-kissing brat…" she was muttering, but he wasn't listening. He continued to pack the things they needed.

When he captured Harry Potter a week ago, he was excited. He didn't know why, since he was already second in command, but there was something about capturing the golden boy that felt exhilarating. This of course all ended when Harry started talking. And he knew everything.

Draco was shocked and reduced to looking like a ghost in the dark. Harry told him all he knew, spat at him, and gave a high cold laugh. All Draco could do was stare.

"If you knew all this… then why did you let it happen, Potter?" Draco finally asked. For being a pretty evil bastard, he was shocked himself.

"Because I had to," was all Harry said. And from there Draco picked up all the pieces. It wasn't easy picking up the golden boy's pieces, but he did.

"That's the most selfish thing a person has ever done," Draco said in a disgusted tone. It was selfish, and that was saying a lot coming out of Draco. "You're a coward."

"Who killed her?" Harry asked, his face a mask of pain finally, "Ginny. Who killed her?"

"Parkinson," Draco replied.

"That backstabbing son of a bitch! He let her die! He fucking promised! He made the Unbreakable Vow with Zabini as our bonder… he said he wouldn't kill anyone…" Harry wailed with agony and realized the mistake he made. Of course he said he wouldn't kill anybody. Other people did it for him. In his haste to get the blackmail over with, Harry made that stupid, naïve mistake.

Draco stared because Harry Potter had come here knowing it had happened, so why was he acting sad about it now? He was dumb to believe any promises made by the Dark side, no matter how much blackmail it involved.

Harry sobbed while on his knees and his hands tied behind his back. "You have to kill me, Malfoy."

"I was going to do that already," Draco sneered.

"You don't understand. You have to do it, even if what I'm about to tell you has you deciding that you want my help. You have to kill me because I can't go on knowing that I failed. This is all my fault."

Draco gave him an incredulous look. "Nothing you could say would make me want your help or anyone else's on your side, which, by the way, will be reduced to just one person after I'm through with you."

"God, you're pathetic. How many people have you killed? What, two? And neither of them important. You don't like to kill, Malfoy. Second in command or not, you hate doing the dirty work. I can see it on your face. I know you."

Draco wondered how Harry knew how to read him so well, but maybe that had a lot to do with their past friendship. He had killed and let people die, but only those he could not throw to someone else, especially since his parents were killed in a freak accident a couple months prior. He made his way up the chain by association, really, and he only did it because it was the easiest way to survive, to ensure the safety of his parents. Though now his parents were gone he had to ensure his own survival. They'd want him to. He liked to think they didn't die raising a coward who would follow them immediately in death.

"Shut up, Potter," Draco said, losing the edge on his voice. He was getting more confused by the minute.

"He planned it, Malfoy. He killed your parents. He did it because they were trying to get you out of it and he needed you. They're dead because he made it happen," Harry said.

Draco felt like Harry had just cast Sectumsempra on him again. "You're lying." But he somehow knew that it was true. The desperation in Harry's voice was too real.

Before Draco could respond, footsteps could be heard from a distance.

"Come here now!" Harry whispered. "Give me a wand. DO IT!"

Draco shook himself and let Harry free from his binds. He gave him his wand.

Harry showed him the mark on his right wrist. It was a triangle with a circle in the middle and a lightning shaped line going down the middle. Two tiny vertical lines were underneath it. "Hold out your arm. NOW!"

Draco didn't know why but he did as told. After muttering some spells, Draco found himself with another tattoo on his wrist.

"Find Hermione and show her this. She has to trust you if you show her. It's my mark. The lines show how many people with it are alive. It'll be you and her after you kill me. She won't see another line until 24 hours though. Take this fucking place down. It's the only revenge we have left. Play the part until Hermione gets here. She'll be here within a week or two probably. Do the planning you need to then. And once she's here, flee and continue to devise. If you manage to survive after blowing the place up, go live together in the Americas or something. And don't you dare hurt her or leave her behind. And don't tell her how I knew, just say that I did. Malfoy?"

Draco just stared at the tattoo and listened to everything Harry was saying. It was a lot to take in, but Draco understood. He nodded, and Harry dropped his wand.

"Do it now," Harry said, now on his knees.

Draco didn't want to, he never wanted to in the first place truth be told, but he understood that if he didn't there would be a chance he'd get caught knowing the truth and the plan, whatever it was, would be ruined altogether.

"Why did you tell me? Why are you trusting me with this? How do you know I even want to do this?" Draco asked.

"I don't forget, Malfoy. You're the only one left in this country who has a heart. And take care of Hermione, no matter how much hatred is between you two now. You can't let her die without a proper fight."

Draco stared dumbfounded as the footsteps were nearly there. Harry pleaded with his eyes and Draco said, pointing his wand, "_Avada Kedavra_.

Draco felt his heart crack each time he did that, and this one seemed to hurt him the most.

"Where the fuck are we going?" Hermione snapped. She had been quiet for some time as Draco finished packing.

"We need to go somewhere we can be safe for the night," Draco answered.

"Then are you going to tell me what the fuck is going on?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," Draco said.

"And my wand?"

"Maybe."

She began to groan and complain again as wards up above were being broken and a couple of explosions were going off.

"That'll be them. You can side-along Apparate with me. Think of a safe place."

"The Forbidden Forest," Hermione said automatically.

Draco raised an eyebrow but said nothing and they Apparated just as they heard another explosion in the manor.

As soon as they arrived they were met with an eerie silence. Nothing came out of the deepest parts of the Forbidden Forest anymore. Even the creatures of the dark hid and minded their business from the magical people. Wizards and witches were all pure evil now, as far as they were concerned, and it was best to stay away.

Draco took out a tent from his bag and set it up as Hermione watched, observing the silence she was so used to when she was in this forest. Draco put up the wards to keep them safe and pulled her along inside, not really caring to be careful.

"Fuck, my wrist is going to fall off if you keep doing that," Hermione said, and tugged on her arm again which resulted in Draco almost tripping. He glared at her as she laughed mirthlessly.

"Sit," he said and tugged even harder, having her fall to the ground. It was a soft carpeted floor, though. Still, she glared at him. He feared that this whole plan would be useless and just consist of glaring and tugging matches if they didn't get to business soon.

Hermione noticed that the tent was cozy and fancy, something she hadn't been around in a very long time. Harry and her never got the chance to retrieve a tent and settled with roaming around the Invisibility Cloak and sleeping in it too. This tent had a couch, two large beds, a little kitchen, and a private bathroom. It was all so luxurious to Hermione; she couldn't help but be amazed to actually see something like this again.

"Nice hair," Draco commented.

"Are you being a dick?" Hermione shot back.

"It looks different. Gives you an edge."

"Stop talking like we're still friends. Get to the point."

"Potter told me who was behind my parents' death. It was our side." Draco said.

Hermione snickered, an unkind sound altogether. "Harry told you the truth, eh? And you believed him so easily?"

"You weren't there to hear his voice… anyway, I don't know why but he trusted me to take down headquarters."

"That may be because you were once our friend. Fucking coward," Hermione said.

"That's neither here nor there," Draco said calmly. "Potter trusted me because he knew I was going to avenge my parents. And he made me promise to take you along so we could do it together. I thought I owed it to him to honor his wishes."

Hermione laughed coldly again. "Tell me, Draco, why should I believe that you want to honor my dead best friend's wishes?"

"Because of this," he said, pointing to his right arm again.

Hermione still stared unconvinced. "Why couldn't Harry just take down the headquarters himself? Why couldn't he just plan it with me?" Even as she asked the questions she felt the burn in her chest at the one she wasn't saying out loud, _why would he trust you and not me_?

Draco thought about his answer for a moment. "He had some things he wasn't proud of. He didn't want to admit them to you."

"What?"

"I promised I wouldn't say just yet," and before she could protest he continued with, "But did you know what he knew, Granger?"

"What are you talking about?"

"He knew everything on how it started… he even knew that the bombing was going to happen-"

A flash of hurt crossed Hermione's eyes. "You're lying," she hissed.

Draco laughed cold this time, "Your golden boy wasn't so golden, Granger. He wouldn't have left us to do it if he could help it. But he literally could not live with it. Why do you think he left you? He came to London knowing he was going to die but he needed to know if maybe she was alive – Ginny – but he knew she was dead. His mark said so."

Hermione didn't know much about feeling sympathy anymore, so she just sat with a blank face. There was so much she didn't understand and so much she didn't trust.

Draco continued, "He knows we might not survive. But he said to take down as many people as we can."

"What if I don't want to do it? Did Harry ever consider that?" Hermione replied bitterly.

"I think he knew you would want to avenge all your friends. You just needed the right resources. That was me. Even if you aren't going to help me, you're going to stick around and at least watch."

"You expect me to just watch? I'm going to kill as many evil bastards as I can."

"You're sure we're safe here for the night?" Draco asked. "My wards are impenetrable, but just in case…"

"I was here for three nights and had no problems," Hermione answered.

Draco threw her wand at her. "If you're thinking of doing something stupid, don't."

Hermione had no intention to. Once she caught her wand, however, she decided it'd be fun to at least fuck around with him. She pointed it at a pillow and thought, "_Incendio_." Draco noticed immediately and put it out.

"Are you fucking crazy? Do you know how expensive everything in here was?"

Hermione just threw her head back and actually laughed, a startling alarm in the coldness of the room. "I hardly think that matters now. The chain?"

Draco trusted that Hermione wouldn't do anything too stupid, so he flicked his wand and the chains were off.

Hermione stretched her wrists and Draco watched her tentatively. After she was done, she ran up to him and punched him in the eye.

"That's for ruining my night," Hermione said, and flopped on to the more comfortable looking bed of the two in the tent. Draco wanted to slap her but flopped on to the other bed he had intended for her instead.

* * *

A/N: Thoughts?


	3. Animosity

**Chapter Three**

"Wake up, lovely."

Hermione heard the whisper and felt the silky fingers running along the side of her naked body. She shivered even more as soft lips began kissing her neck. She smiled, her eyes still closed. She enjoyed his touch, enjoyed what she couldn't see but knew so well.

"Theo," she mumbled sleepily.

"It's time for me to go," Theodore said, resting his head on her shoulder as he placed his hand on her stomach.

Hermione's eyes shot open. "Already?"

She felt her heart sink. Time with him always seemed to fly by.

"Unfortunately," he sighed and pulled her closer.

She turned around to face him and pouted. "We've only seen each other once these last two weeks!"

"I know," he said, soothing her with kisses. "I promise soon it doesn't have to be a secret anymore. We just need to wait for when it's safe."

Hermione never wanted it to be a secret, but with the state the world was in, it kind of had to be.

They hadn't completely started off a secret though. Hermione and Ron had just mutually called it quits from an awfully boring relationship a year after Voldemort's defeat and she found herself casually lounging at a bar. After a few butterbeers, she spotted Blaise, a random girl, and Theodore all huddled at a table, talking. Soon, Blaise and the girl left together, leaving Theodore by himself. She caught him glancing at her and thought, "_Well, fuck, why not_." She'd seen him around Hogwarts. Often times they'd be in the library at the same time, though on principle they just chose never to acknowledge each other and had thrown some bad names at each other over those years. But things were different now. They were adults. And Hermione thought he looked good.

She walked up to his table and he looked up at her with his soft brown eyes, "Yes, Granger?"

"Mind if I join you?"

"My friends will be back any moment…" he said uneasily.

Hermione just grinned at that, "I'm pretty sure Zabini has no intention of coming back tonight."

Theodore frowned and with a wicked smile Hermione wondered if he was still a virgin.

After a few butterbeers, she intended to just take him to her place and show him a good time. Though she thought she'd be doing the teaching that night, he turned around and blew her mind. Well, he certainly wasn't a virgin and she immediately became hooked. She even fell in love.

It was hard to be public, though. There were talks of a new Dark Rule forming secretly and as he was a pureblood and the son of a former Death Eater, they were trying to recruit him. He just wanted to stay neutral, but it wasn't easy. Their random trysts were the results of being unable to be seen together for either of their safety.

She began to run kisses along his chest. "How soon do you have to go?" She looked up at him, a naughty smile on her face.

"Certainly not that soon," he said and pinned her beneath him.

"Granger! What are you doing? Did you study the blueprints yet?" Draco yelled, snapping Hermione out of her reverie.

She glared at him. "Yes, ferret, I have."

"It looks like you've been doing a whole lot of nothing!"

Hermione rolled her eyes and went back to looking at the blueprints of the much improved Ministry of Magic building, or at least what used to be that building. Draco just called it headquarters. It was easy enough to memorize: five story building, two floors beneath ground level, and the other three above. The top most floor housed the most important people of the new Dark side; the lower level held the darkest secrets – piles and piles of papers disheveled in several rooms. No one bothered to organize it as it didn't really matter anymore, though Draco told Hermione she'd have a field day reading in there, about Dark Magic and things that Voldemort probably didn't even know about.

Draco mentioned there were no secret passages, no way to Apparate anywhere in the area, as she had already known, and the best way to get in was through the underground sewers. Hermione would have found the idea revolting years ago, but she was used to these things by now. Draco suggested they Apparate to the outskirts of the city and take the sewers from there.

"Alright," Hermione finally said when he'd finished explaining, "That sounds fun but what happens when we get in? Do we dance with your friends?"

"Bombs, Granger, timed to explode the building and everyone in it when I call the incantation. We'll have to set them up on the lowest level so the building can just topple. We'll set some up where we can above, too, so we can blow some people up. We'll also have to kill people along the way–"

"That all sounds brilliantly planned, Draco, but where are we to get said objects?" She asked mockingly, as if his plans were all ridiculous and childish.

"Stop calling me 'Draco'," he snapped.

Hermione snickered. "Why? Does it make you feel uncomfortable, Draco?" She loved taunting him. Calling him by his first name would remind him of things he surely regretted now and would make him feel guilty for being a two-faced bastard. She may have agreed to work with him, but she only did it for the sake of everyone who was dead and the fact that she didn't have any plan herself. She might as well go out with a bang too. It didn't mean she had to be nice to him.

"Does it remind you of friends, Draco? Oh, that's right. You never had any friends."

That argument ended in a very nasty fight that started with Draco shoving her. She shoved him back, he got her in a headlock somehow, she elbowed his stomach, and he fell to the floor. While he was on the floor recovering, she attempted to kick him, but he grabbed her leg and had her falling to the ground. They finally both reached for their wands and Draco yelled, "_Protego_!" and Hermione just grinned at him, satisfied.

"Just shut up and study the blueprints!"

And that's what she'd been doing, until she started remembering him, Theodore, the man who had so often been in her dreams. But it was no use. Draco's interruption brought her back to the reality – the one where everyone that mattered, including Theodore, was dead.

Hermione found it fun to be able to be aggressive with someone. It relieved her of a lot of pent up pain and anger without revealing too much. And she didn't care about hurting Draco, so that made everything much easier. It's not like she could do these things with Harry…

Harry had been a mystery to her ever since Draco mentioned that he knew the truth. What exactly was it that Harry knew? Why couldn't he share this bit of information with her? They were best friends, after all. If he allowed everyone to just die, whatever he kept the knowledge hidden for had to be huge. But he told her everything, didn't he? Well, there was one thing that she caught him doing that he didn't know she knew about. But that'd be a ridiculous reason. Anyway, she was the only one – well the only one alive – who knew about that…

Now that she thought about it, though, Harry was acting suspicious that night. He was lagging extremely. He found something wrong with what everyone in the group was wearing. He forgot something from the house twice. By the time they finally arrived near Ministry of Magic for the Peace Ball, everyone in the group was annoyed.

"We may as well just stay at home!" Ginny said.

"That's not a bad idea," Harry said seriously.

The rest of the group just glared at him, already two hours late, and continued to walk towards the building.

That's when a deafening boom blew it up, and it was reduced to fire and shred to pieces.

A handful of people came running out, but it was nothing compared to the mass amount of people that were already in there.

"Help!" Many screamed. "Merlin, save us!"

Naturally, Harry's friends attempted to dash to the building to save who they could, but Harry stopped them.

"Wait!" he cried, "We don't know what's going to happen… put out your wrists. Now!"

In the panic of the moment and in the desperation in Harry's voice, everyone obeyed, though they were startled. Another boom from a distant building could be heard and soon more cries of help and fire took over.

"Hurry up, Harry! They need us!" Ron yelled.

Harry mumbled some incantations and the mark showed up on everyone's right wrist.

"There will be 10 lines for each person here right now… in case we separate and can't find each other… at least we'll know how many of us are still alive…"

Hermione was so blind. She didn't notice Harry's lack of usual heroism. She was too busy fretting. _Theo was in that building_…

"Ginny – with me!" Harry yelled, attempting to grab her arm, but a rock crashed between them, sending a few of them flying. More fire and ash and gravel surrounded them.

All Hermione could see as she got up from the floor was Harry. He took her hand and they fled.

"For fuck's sake, Granger," Draco said, "Did you hear anything I just said?"

"What?" Hermione said, snapping her head up at him, "Yeah, something about…"

"Venezuela. We have to go to Venezuela. That's where we'll be getting the bombs," Draco said.

"Muggle bombs?"

"Yes and no. They're like muggle bombs but have a bit of magic. Fiendfyre, you remember that, don't you?"

Hermione nodded, remembering a trip to Venezuela a couples years back vaguely.

"Well, that's just one thing… I think we should go tomorrow."

"Already?" Hermione asked.

"I don't see why we should wait. Anyway, I know where they're hidden at. It'll be in a cave behind Angel Falls. Not so tricky to get into, just a lot of maneuvering and all that."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "How do you know where this is all at?"

"Research," Draco said half-heartedly.

"You're lying," Hermione said casually. "Or you're leaving something out. Really, Draco, I already know what a bastard you are and all the bad things you've done, just tell me how you know about muggle magic bombs."

He glared at her and said nothing.

"You don't think I'm dumb, do you? Come on, Draco. Harry and I have heard tons of things the last year," Hermione said slowly, "You provided them with bombs. We heard. I was furious at first, but then I realized you were always a dick, I suppose. So it stopped affecting me a long time ago."

"Like I care how it affects you." Draco spat out without thinking.

Hermione always found ways to stay cool. She just yawned lazily and stretched herself out on the bed. "That's right. I forgot we weren't really friends, were we?"

Draco let out an angered sound and threw some papers at her. "I'm through talking to you tonight! Read those. Wake up at dawn."

* * *

A/N: Okay this is the last of the re-posts. Next chapter is new for all viewers! Thanks again to the reviews and reads! Also, I forgot to thank my beta again last chapter, Sierra. She's awesome! :)

Feel free to leave any review you'd like! Feedback is much appreciated!


	4. Iridescent

**Chapter Four**

Draco didn't know if he could stand another day with Hermione. He was convinced her heart was made of stone by now and she probably was incapable of feeling anything but anger. Her cattiness and sarcasm was even worse than before because now they were just so cold-hearted. She truly did not care about him or his feelings, and he assumed she was just going along with him because she didn't have much else to do. She wasn't even immersed in the planning like he was. He could see her in his vision now, killing anything that blocked her way. In a horrifying way it reminded him of Bellatrix. But, he knew it was different. Hermione changed because of the war; Bellatrix was just born a psychopath. In any case, Hermione was driving him crazy. And they'd only been together for two whole days.

When Draco finally had time to think about things other than plotting against his former allies, he would think about what got him where he was. Sometimes it didn't make sense to him, but these things all just happened so fast, and before he knew it he was providing them with the bombs that would eventually kill almost everyone.

Blaise, Pansy, Daphne, and Astoria had been sent to recruit him, of course. It was no one from the former Death Eaters running the new operations. These were smarter people – cool and calculated and sneaky, unlike the Death Eaters. And they plotted every detail out until it was the right time to begin.

"We know what you've discovered on your travels," Pansy said. "Draco, dear, it would be wise to join us. Who knows how much more we could accomplish with you on our side?"

Draco stared at the four of them. He knew he shouldn't have shared that bit of information with Pansy, but he didn't know she'd share it with everyone. He couldn't exactly show his disbelief, but it was definitely in his mind. They were asking him to join a side he didn't really believe in and to participate in a mass killing. Not only that, they were asking him to endanger some people he had gone on his expeditions with – people he could almost call 'friends'.

"Why didn't your leader just come along with you?" Draco asked. "Wouldn't that have convinced me more? And why can't you just tell me who it is?"

Blaise smirked. "He's busy doing other things."

Daphne said, "Besides, if you knew his identity you'd report him. We'll need your loyalty first."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Well that's just ridiculous. I already know you four are a part of it."

It was Astoria who spoke now, looking as innocent and luscious as ever, and Draco couldn't help but look. "Draco, it's us. You can do no wrong with us."

Draco considered this. He'd already spoken to his parents about it. They weren't keen on the idea of a new era of darkness, but they told him that if it was the only way to go on about surviving and staying in peace with whoever was in charge then they'd better join up.

"I suppose…" Draco said.

His old friends smiled and Astoria gave him a wink. Merlin, her beauty had him weak at the knees.

Astoria, of course, took advantage of Draco's lust for her. They by all means did not have any emotional relationship of the sort. Draco found her extremely attractive and Astoria loved the attention. Sometimes when Draco was around, before he'd really reached the top of the ladder, she'd corner him.

"Astoria… what are you doing?" Draco asked uncertainly the first time.

She smiled seductively and opened a broom closet that so happened to be right behind Draco. She pressed up against him in the dark and traced his lips. He shook his head.

"What are you so scared of, Draco? I don't bite."

"I – I…" he stuttered. He thought she was so gorgeous. Even though he couldn't see her in the dark, he knew her beauty was cunning, and it made him shiver.

Astoria kissed him then, aggressively, willing his mouth to open with her tongue. He thought he should stop her, lest they get caught.

"What if someone comes in here?" he breathed hard as soon as they broke apart.

"Draco, do you really think people haven't fucked in a broom closet in this building before? It's not taboo," she said and before he could respond she reached down and began to unbutton his pants.

He'd really had no choice but to go along with it. She was easily the most attractive person on the Dark side and if she randomly wanted to fuck around with him in a broom closet, a desk, or a rooftop, he wasn't going to protest.

Like all things, though, their little encounters came to an end. He was relieved, in a way, as he was beginning to get bored with it and she seemed to find an interest in some other bloke in a lower department. The excitement was gone and Astoria was never really that interesting anyway. Draco finally reached the top anyhow, and had no time for those things. He was too busy looking like the boss.

"Didn't I tell you to wake up at dawn?" Draco yelled at Hermione, poking her with his wand.

"Bloody hell!" she shivered as he pulled the covers off of her.

"Hurry up!" Draco said. "You have ten minutes to get ready."

Hermione flipped him off and pulled her covers back on her for another five minutes. Draco gave up and decided to sit on his bed to run through the plans again.

Before he knew it, she was standing over him, back in her all black ensemble and green eye contacts.

"Well?"

"Right. We'll just pack everything up. We'll Apparate to the forest above the waterfall and climb down some. It won't be hard- I know some shortcuts. From there just follow my lead – this was all on the papers I gave you last night."

Hermione yawned. "Yeah, I fell asleep on those."

Draco glared at her. He started to gather everything together and put it in his little bag. Once they were through with taking down the wards, he and Hermione latched arms and Apparated to Venezuela.

They began walking through the forest, Hermione following Draco in a very bored manner.

"So what if people try to kill us?" she asked.

"It's likely," Draco replied. "By now they know I'm a traitor, so I can't go in there and pick as I please anymore. But I know a few shortcuts and passages. That's how I found out about this after all. When we-"

"Went to travel to Venezuela," Hermione finished pleasantly, "with Neville and Harry. Yeah, I remember. I didn't know you found bombs, though. I suppose you'd rather have wanted to share the knowledge with your more beneficial colleagues."

Draco stayed quiet. He didn't want to get in this conversation right now and she didn't press the matter. She merely smiled pleasantly and kept following him.

They'd been walking for several moments when finally Draco went up to a very fat and tall tree and knocked on it, listening. It was hollow, just as he thought it was. Without a word to Hermione, he pointed his wand and blasted a hole into the tree.

"Way to be discreet!" Hermione hissed.

"It wasn't even loud!" Draco argued. "Come on." He extended his hand out to her.

"What's in there?" she asked, looking at his hand as if it was filthy.

"A shortcut," he said, rolling his eyes. "If you had read the fucking paper we wouldn't have to argue about it. What happened to you being all studious?"

"What happened to you being a friend?" She shot back, opening her mouth again to say something more.

"Don't start with that right now! Just take my damn hand!"

Grudgingly, Hermione took his hand and they stepped into the dark hole of the tree and fell. Hermione screamed and instinctively drew herself closer to Draco. He held her tight with one arm and had his wand pointed to the ground with another. Hermione thought they would surely die, but Draco muttered some spells under his breath and they landed softly on their feet. She shoved him away from her.

"Don't you ever do that again!" she yelled at him.

"Shh," Draco said. "I'm not sure who's in here. _Lumos_."

Hermione did the same.

As far as Draco was concerned, the place looked the same as when he'd found it. There was nothing but dirt and tree roots surrounding them, leading down a long tunnel. He led them along the way, careful to keep Hermione close behind him even though he knew she could take care of herself.

"Why can't we just use a summoning charm?" she asked.

"Two reasons: it could explode and it's more than likely got many protective charms on them. I thought you were the smart one. Come on, Granger, get it together."

He couldn't see it but he knew she was either glaring or rolling her eyes or quite possibly planning to leave him. He shrugged at the thought.

Behind them, a sudden movement had Hermione moving faster than light and a jet of green light emerged from her wand at where it came from. A lone squirrel fell dead.

Hermione frowned. "I thought it may have been someone important."

"How do you just send Killing curses at things without even saying the incantation?" Draco asked curiously, moving along the dark tunnel. He could feel himself walking through tangles of spider webs.

"When you've been on the run this long it's all about survival and learning how to utilize your skills in the most efficient ways," Hermione replied.

"Try to refrain from using the Killing curse, you might end up directing it at the wrong person, like me!" Draco said, annoyed, though he was very impressed with her great skill.

"Oh, if I were to do that it wouldn't be on accident, Draco. It'd be on purpose," she said with an evil smile in her voice.

Draco grit his teeth in the darkness and said nothing once more. He knew they were getting closer. He could faintly hear the water cascading down the mountain outside and wet drippings in the tunnel somewhere. The secret room was close now and he hoped they wouldn't encounter anyone today.

Finally they reached an open space and Draco felt through the walls for a passage.

"_Diffindo_," he said and an open space opened for them on the wall. It was a cave full of yellow, blue, and purple crystals, hanging upside down and erecting from the ground and the sides of the walls. The mixture of the crystals with the light from their wands made the cave light up in such a pretty way that Draco noticed even Hermione staring in awe. There were small wooden boxes scattered all around the scene and the sound of water thrashing and falling against the rocks outside the walls.

"You stand by the door and keep watch," Draco said. "I'm going to pack what we need."

Hermione nodded her head and stood by the opening with her wand at the ready, though she kept glancing back inside to check on Draco and admire the cave.

Several moments passed by with Draco putting things in his bag carefully.

"Pay attention!" Draco yelled in a whisper to Hermione.

She turned around vehemently. As she did, she saw a jet of red light flying at her. With the quickness of a Quidditch Seeker she blocked the spell and sent a jet of red light back to the direction from where it came.

"Draco, we've got company! Hurry up!" She yelled and began dueling in the dark.

Draco's heart began to pump harder against his chest. He threw in what he could now. He tucked the bag safely in his robes and darted towards the entrance.

"It is Malfoy!" one of the two men roared. "Get them! I think that's the mudblood he's with!"

The two hefty men ran towards Draco and Hermione and threw different spells and curses. Each time Hermione blocked them and sent an even more lethal combination of spells back at them. It was a beautiful, yet alarming sight with different colored lights jetting everywhere and the cave shimmering behind them.

"_Stupefy_! _Sectumsempra_!" Draco yelled wildly to no success.

Hermione's jet of green light went soaring and hit one of the men in the chest, leaving him limp on the ground. Just as she turned around to run into the cave, a curse hit her in the back and she began bleeding at the mouth and fell unconscious.

Draco ran towards her, dodging a spell that landed in the caves and caused a huge explosion. He arrived just in time to cover Hermione's body with his own to protect them from the debris. After the view cleared, he pointed his wand at the remaining man and yelled, "_Avada Kedavra_!" and the man fell with a shudder.

Draco picked up Hermione and headed towards the fire starting in the crystal caves and blasted a hole through the wall. He jumped out into the sunlight, splashing into the waterfalls, and Apparated them midair back into the Forbidden Forest with tears he didn't notice streaming down his face.

* * *

A/N: New chapter, yay! Thanks so much to my beta, Sierra, again! Thanks for the review! Please read and review and let me know what you think!


	5. Blame Game

**Chapter Five**

"Draco Malfoy is coming with us?" Hermione asked Harry, blinking.

"Yes," Harry said for what felt like the umpteenth time. "He is also interested in researching the magic in remote areas of other countries. I think it'll be cool. We've got Neville, Malfoy, and us two. Anyway it's just two days out of the month."

Hermione didn't care much about Draco going. She just found it odd that Draco didn't mind going with them. They weren't enemies anymore, but she still had her doubts about him. He was an odd bloke after all.

"It'll be alright, Hermione. He's decent now," Harry said. He was always so forgiving.

Later that night, Hermione ran this news to Theodore.

"I just find it odd. I mean, has he ever expressed interest in researching magic to you?" Hermione paced back and forth in the room.

Theodore stopped her from walking abruptly and pulled her down on his lap. "Stop worrying. It's just Malfoy. He probably wants to get his name in good graces again. And he's probably just bored. From what I've heard he hasn't had a good lay since Parkinson back in sixth year and even then I heard it wasn't great."

Hermione suppressed a giggle and Theodore laughed airily, pulling her into a kiss.

The next day, Hermione found herself hiking up the mountains in Venezuela with the three boys, curiously scanning their surroundings and looking over different objects. To her surprise, Draco was pretty quiet, though he spoke kindly when spoken to and even shared his opinions and discoveries with them. At dinner, they had some butterbeers in front of the campfire and they all loosened up, including Draco. He was very reserved in a way, but seemed to have changed from the bastard he was before. They all went to sleep in their respective tents after some time.

The next day was virtually the same except they all went off on their own for a couple of hours, meeting up at the campsite just in time for dinner to share their findings. Then Harry pulled out some firewhiskeys and said they should celebrate for an overall successful weekend.

Neville was the first to knock out. He went staggering to his tent and just after a second they'd heard him flop to the ground. Harry went to his tent soon after, saying he needed alone time with Ginny using Sirius' old twin mirrors. This left Draco and Hermione in front of the fire to talk alone.

"So, Draco – you don't mind me calling you that, do you?" Hermione asked through glossy eyes.

He shook his head.

"Who are you dating nowadays? Is it still Parkinson?"

Draco chuckled. "That's been long done. What about you and Weasley? Engaged yet?"

"Merlin, no. We broke up almost two years ago," Hermione said. "Where have you been?"

"Hey you still thought I was with Pansy. We broke up nearly four years ago," he pointed out.

"True," Hermione smiled and shivered. "You want to continue this conversation in my tent?"

Draco looked hesitant for a moment. "Er – sure. I guess until I finish the last of this drink. It'd be nice to have company 'til then."

They let the fire simmer down and walked into Hermione's tent. It wasn't extravagant, but it was cozy. Hermione took a seat on a comfortable looking couch and she motioned for Draco to take a seat next to her.

"So, Draco, what have you been doing since Voldemort hit the dust two years ago?"

He shrugged. "Nothing interesting. Recovering, I suppose…"

"Oh. I see. You haven't tried enjoying yourself?" Hermione asked, gulping the last of her firewhiskey.

"I don't think I deserve to enjoy myself, at least not for a while," he replied.

Hermione looked at the Slytherin closely. He did look a bit worn and thinner than she remembered. He also looked very handsome with his sharp features and blonde hair. She also realized she was a little tipsy, but that didn't really matter. She was thinking about how no one should punish themselves forever, maybe she should show him how to enjoy himself…

But Theodore's face popped into her head and she mentally slapped herself for such thoughts.

The next few moments were a blur, and she wasn't quite sure what happened because she practically blacked out, but she woke up the next morning fully clothed on her bed, and alone. She figured she must've collapsed on the couch and Draco moved her and went to sleep.

As they packed to leave Venezuela, there was no mention of any illicit behavior, so Hermione shrugged it off and talked to Draco as naturally as friends did.

Hermione opened her eyes and immediately took a look at her surroundings. She was back in Draco's tent. She attempted to sit up, but was met with a jolt of pain in the middle of her back. She finally began to remember what happened as she lay back down on the bed.

"Draco!" She yelled, desperate to know what else happened.

He didn't come as soon as she had anticipated, but since she had nothing else to do she just waited. Finally, he stepped out of the bathroom.

"You're awake," he said as he approached her. He sat on a chair that was near her bed.

"No shit," she said through gritted teeth, mainly from the pain in her back. "Didn't you hear me yelling?"

"No. Stop trying to move," he said. "It'll only hurt more."

"What happened?"

"You killed one of them. You were hit with a curse and became unconscious and I got us out of there. We've been in the Forbidden Forest for the last two days."

Hermione looked at him. "I've been out two days, huh. What kind of curse?"

"Nothing I couldn't fix. I put some dittany on it and there isn't even any scarring." Draco replied.

Hermione realized that Draco had saved her life. Of course, he had also put her in an abundant amount of danger, but he saved her nonetheless. She knew she should've been grateful – and the old Hermione would have been, but she wasn't that person anymore. She knew he deserved at least a thank you, but she decided against it. Since she was conflicted in her mind about Draco saving her (she was beginning to think maybe she should stop taunting him, or at least reduce it to once a day or so), she decided to avert the subject to something else.

"So did we get what we needed?"

"Yes, but we've got a lot to do. I've already started writing out the plans and putting the little bombs together. But there isn't a rush. You're still pretty weak, so…"

Hermione, out of habit by now really, narrowed her eyes at him. "I am not weak, Draco."

"I only meant your current conditions, Granger. Geez," and Draco got up from his chair and flopped on his bed to no doubt write out more plans.

For the next few hours Hermione just lay in her bed, twirling her wand in her hand and conjuring books she felt like reading. She was so immersed in one novel that she didn't notice Draco bring a tray of food over to her. She looked up at him, very alarmed.

"What's this?"

Draco shrugged. "It's your dinner."

Hermione just blinked up at him. Even though she had lost a lot of feeling, she was finding it difficult to be rude to Draco when he was making her food and taking care of her. She loathed being taken care of, but seeing as she couldn't even get up she knew she should at least be grateful for him. But that would be opening doors to possibly consider being friendly towards him again, which she certainly did not. So she did the only thing that would make her feel better.

"What kind of poison did you put in it?"

"No poison, Granger. If I wanted you to die I would've just left you there," Draco said.

He had a point. She took the tray. He made her soup with some slices of bread and there was a cup of pumpkin juice. She began to eat and stared at Draco as he went to go back to planning on his bed. She couldn't help the next words from coming out. She'd been wanting to ask, but refrained herself because she was trying her hardest to not even care, but here she was, curious as ever and wanting him to feel bad.

"Why'd you do it?"

"Well for one I need you for this last mission and two, Potter said to not let you get hurt so that's what-" Draco said, not looking up from his papers.

"Not that," Hermione interrupted through mouthfuls, "Why'd you decide to help them?"

Draco's eyes narrowed. "It was inevitable. Things were going to happen with or without my help; they would have found a way. My parents told me it was probably best to just go with whatever would keep us surviving."

"And look where they ended up!" Hermione yelled impatiently.

"I know!" Draco said, trying his best to stay calm. "I made a mistake, okay? But I wasn't going to just walk into my death."

"You could have warned us!" Hermione said again, unable to keep herself calm. She knew she shouldn't have asked because now she was beginning to feel – to accuse him of things she shouldn't even care about anymore.

"Come off it, Granger! Potter could've warned you too!"

Hermione couldn't say anything to that. Harry could have told them, but he let them all die. She was feeling bitter, so extremely bitter. And now Harry had the nerve to leave her in this mess with Draco. It wasn't fair.

"How many of our friends did you kill?" Hermione asked, quietly now. She bit down on her tongue hard to focus on the pain there instead of the one she was feeling inside.

"I didn't kill any of them," Draco said darkly.

"Liar," Hermione hissed.

Draco glared at her and decided to keep his mouth shut. They didn't talk for the rest of the night.

To believe that Draco was a bad guy was much easier than believing he actually had some good left in him. It frustrated Hermione because for so long Draco was who she blamed for everything. Draco was practically the leader. Draco had killed her friends. But he didn't. And this bothered her. When she pictured the face of the enemy, it wasn't the kind, timid face she'd seen at Venezuela; it was the cruel, hard face of a former Death Eater. But that wasn't the case. Draco was just trying to survive, just as she had been. He just had more resources, like being Pureblooded.

She wanted to believe Draco was bad. Believing he was bad would keep Harry innocent. But Harry knew. If anything, Harry was worse. And Hermione didn't want to believe that.

Hermione woke up the next morning pleased that she could stand and walk again. She did her daily morning rituals and proceeded to make herself breakfast. She felt a slight pang of guilt as she cut up some bread for herself, remembering that Draco did make her dinner. She decided to 'accidentally' make extra and just throw a plate on his bed. It would be fair, and she wouldn't feel guilty. She returned the favor and she could go back to being rude to him.

When she turned around to look at his bed, however, he wasn't in it. She checked the bathroom and that too was empty.

"Draco?" she called out in an annoyed voice. He wasn't in the tent. She growled in frustration and threw the plate on his bed. He could eat it when he returned.

He finally arrived an hour later while Hermione was munching on bread and reading a book. He was drenched in water, but he flicked his wand and was dry again.

"Oh, you're able to walk now?" he asked.

"Yes," Hermione said nonchalantly. She didn't want to ask where he'd been. That would mean she cared. And she didn't, but she asked anyway, "So where've you been?"

He pulled out a vial with two single strands of hair. "I had to get some people to turn ourselves into for when we go to London. I've already got polyjuice potion, see…" he walked towards his bed and saw the plate of food. "What's this?"

Hermione snorted. "It's food. I made extra. Now we're even."

"Oh," he said simply. She saw him struggle with his mouth as he was about to say something else, but he just closed it.

"So when do we get to blow things up?" Hermione asked.

"We'll need about a week to finish assembling things and getting the plan finalized. It's convenient because the weather's horrid anyway…"

Hermione brushed the rest off with the wave of her hand. "Yes, well you let me know when I'm needed, ferret."

Draco scowled and ate his food.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for all the R&Rs! I appreciate each and every one of them! Thank you again, Sierra for betaing this story!


	6. 21

**Chapter Six**

It was more than just a promise to Harry that had Draco ensuring Hermione's safety. He knew this. It was why he always felt guilty. He _was_ guilty. And that's why he let her call him names. That's why he let her make him suffer, to remind him, because he didn't deserve to be treated kindly. He didn't deserve to forget all the things he'd done.

And he did fret over her while she was unconscious because he did, albeit grudgingly, care about her… more than she knew and more than he cared to admit.

Over the next few days, she was considerably more civil towards him. Actually, that was more of an exaggeration. She still hated him and they brawled a few times when he lost his patience with her.

"Don't make me come over there and hurt you!" Draco yelled. She was recovered and healthy but he didn't want to physically fight. She was determined to break him, though. It was almost as if she got off on it.

"Hurt me? Don't be ridiculous, Draco. Don't pretend you care. You're just trying to avenge Mummy and Daddy!"

He'd pushed her and they were rolling around the tent fighting again until she grabbed her wand and pointed it at him with a smug, satisfied look on her face.

"Just shut up!" he yelled and got back to what it was he was doing.

An hour later she'd be civil with him and talk about the weather or some ridiculous thing like that.

He was beginning to think she was bipolar. She was nothing like the girl he knew two years ago.

After their third trip, which was somewhere in Germany, Harry was celebrating his 21st birthday with a party at his house, Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Harry had invited Draco, and Neville and Hermione insisted he go despite his protests.

So he went and was surprised to learn that their friends really knew how to party. Of course, Draco hadn't been to a party since sixth year, at least not one of this style, so his opinion may have been biased. But he remained timid the whole night. He answered many drunken questions from Ron and his new girlfriend, Lavender, among others. They were questions mainly about his loyalties, his life as a former Death Eater and a Slytherin and he answered honestly. Everyone was nice for the most part (he blamed the liquor) but he was feeling overwhelmed. He dismissed himself and was about to leave the party when he came upon the Black Family Tree. He stumbled upon his own name and examined the rest of the tree, with all the blacked out faces and all the proud looking ones, so honored to be pureblooded. It made him cringe slightly. It was a bad history his family had and he wasn't too proud of it. Then, Hermione came out of a bedroom and spotted him.

She was red in the face, clearly inebriated but also very composed.

"Draco! What a nightmare! I've just had to lie Ginny down. She was completely trashed! Now Harry, where has that boy gone? Hm… oh, were you leaving?" And she stood directly in front of him as if to block him from going anywhere.

"My parents will probably be wondering if you lot have murdered me yet," he said sheepishly.

"Don't be silly! You don't even look as if you've had a drink! Come on, let's have at least one firewhiskey before you go."

Draco agreed because he was growing rather fond of their friendship.

They talked in the corner of the living room while others danced and kissed and disappeared into rooms together. At one point Draco remembered moving a strand of hair out of her face and telling her, "You're really pretty. And your face is really red." He didn't know what made him say it, quite possibly the liquor, but it was out in the open in any case.

Hermione smiled kindly and said, "Thanks, Draco." Then she quickly excused herself to the bathroom.

Draco wondered silently if he should've said that at all. He'd only meant it as a friendly comment…

She came back with a very troubled look on her face.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She had a distant look in her eyes that betrayed her next words. "Yes. I do have to go though… I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I should be getting home too," Draco said. "It looks like the party's dwindling anyway. I'm sure Potter's knocked out from all the liquor I saw him chugging, so I'll just owl him tomorrow."

So they parted and that was probably the last moment he remembered being care-free and happy amongst those people.

He really shouldn't have agreed to lunch with Pansy two days later because she told him lots of changes would be made within the next few months. He stupidly told her about what he discovered in Venezuela and she had a crazy glint in her eyes at the news. He didn't know why he told her, maybe he thought she was still that trustworthy and loyal friend he had back at Hogwarts. Of course, she was a Slytherin and you can never trust those.

Draco's eye caught sight of Hermione about to step out of the tent.

"Where are you going?"

"For a walk, maybe around Hogwarts-" she said idly.

He interrupted her. "Are you crazy? You don't even know who could be there."

She just rolled her eyes. "You and your friends wiped out everything here, remember? I doubt they're coming back to look for us here."

"Well you can't go alone!" Draco said.

She stared at him. "I can take care of myself, if you hadn't noticed. Besides, I bet you've been itching to get out of this tent, too. So by all means, accompany me if it makes you feel better."

He glared at her and stayed put. She just shrugged and exited. After about five minutes he groaned and followed her.

She was quick to hide her trail but he headed up the castle anyway. He spotted her walking into the entrances of the Great Hall. He ran as fast as he could, darting overgrown hedges and weeds and a Quidditch field that was broken and lifeless.

"Granger," he panted once he reached the hall. He forgot how big the castle was and really hoped he'd catch her in time because running around looking for her was not going to be fun. But he didn't need to. She was standing in the Great Hall, staring at the eerie silence, broken glass and disheveled tables and chairs everywhere.

"You guys really fucked this place up, didn't you?" Hermione asked indifferently.

"I had nothing to do with this one…" Draco replied quietly, in awe at the sight before him. He'd never have wished this upon Hogwarts – not upon innocent children who just wanted to go to school and learn magic. Now all the pureblooded children left were sent to a school called House of Slytherin and were taught ridiculous prejudice things. His throat became dry.

Hermione just shrugged and walked up the steps. Draco followed her.

"Where are you going?"

"To the Gryffindor tower. Ever been there, Draco?"

"No…"

"Of course not. Cowards hardly get to step in there. You know, house of the brave and all…" she smirked.

He just said nothing, though his face felt hot. She loved pressing his buttons and he wasn't going to give in this time.

They walked all the way up to the seventh floor in silence until they reached the portrait where the Fat Lady used to be. All the portraits were empty now. Draco wondered where they all went. He figured they probably went into hiding in other secret portraits, or perhaps they were all huddled up in the Headmaster's office, which for some reason was impenetrable.

Hermione just pushed passed the portrait and was met with no resistance. She walked through the hall and into the Common room. Draco followed her and was surprised to see that the Gryffindor tower wasn't destroyed. If he had seen it before, he would've guessed that it hadn't changed much.

"I guess your friends didn't bother to mess up our common room," Hermione commented.

She then made her way up to a set of stairs. When Draco tried to follow, the stairs turned into a slide and he fell down back to the Common room floor instantly.

"Granger!" he yelled.

She laughed. "Ha! So it does still work!"

Draco grunted and sat on an armchair while waiting for her to do whatever it was she was doing in there.

She finally came back down looking a bit nostalgic, which was strange for Draco to see since she hadn't really seen much emotion on her face except indifference and anger, for the most part at least.

"Isn't there anything you miss here?" she asked him suddenly.

Draco thought about it for a moment. When he attended Hogwarts he loathed the school and everything it stood for. But now, looking back, he realized he should've just taken it for what it was… how did he always end up in such an utter mess?

He didn't have a complete answer for her, so he just shrugged and said, "Let's get back. It's getting late."

Surprisingly she didn't start arguing with him or calling him names. He figured she was probably feeling all weird since she was in her old Common room but he was sure she'd say something insulting once they got out into the hall.

But once they did get out the halls, they were both shocked into silence when they heard the doors of the entrance hall boom open and two very angry and annoyed voices argued.

"I don't know why he thinks we should be looking in Hogwarts. I bet by now the Mudblood and Malfoy are gone to some remote country or something," one female voice said.

"He reckons they've got something big planned," the other one, a male, said in a voice that read he was wearing a frown. "You know it's important if he sent you, Daph."

Draco's eyes widened. It was Daphne Greengrass, and from the sound of it, she was with Marcus Flint - who was still probably the dumbest wizard Draco ever encountered.

That they were looking everywhere, even Hogwarts, for Draco and Hermione, meant that the other side really wanted to capture them. This confused Draco.

Draco put a finger to his mouth to shush Hermione and took her arm. Quietly, they walked slowly down the halls and hid themselves in the nearest broom closet. It wouldn't do to kill and fight so openly. If they were going to do this, they had to be sneaky. If they weren't, they'd surely be outnumbered as soon as Daphne and Marcus called reinforcements.

They silently cast Disillusionment Charms on themselves and pointed to the door and cast the Muffliato charm along with any other barriers they could think of. They lay on the floor with their eyes and wands pointed beneath the opening of the door.

"Are we going to kill them?" Hermione whispered.

"I don't know," Draco answered, thinking of a plan. He had a good idea. "Remember those hairs I stole? I think I've got a better idea…"

Hermione grinned in the darkness. "But what do we do with them after we take the hairs?"

"Just stun them and we'll take the hairs and just run back to the forest. We won't need to obliviate them or anything," Draco said, wanting to avoid killing as much as possible.

He could hear the pout on Hermione's face as she said, "Fine."

They'd heard the two cursing down the halls and yelling at each other about not finding anything.

After some moments, Hermione said, "I hate being this close to you."

Draco stiffened. "Well it's not exactly like this is a picnic for me either."

"You don't understand. I despise being this close to you. I hate even being in this school with you," Hermione said with so much venom in her voice.

"Don't start with me right now, Granger. It's not the time," Draco whispered, trying to keep his voice level.

"Don't start with you? Maybe we wouldn't be in this mess at all if you had just been brave for once-"

"Don't! Just shut up! Yell at me later!" Draco hissed.

Hermione was about to respond when footsteps could finally be heard coming down the hall.

Draco tapped the door slightly open so that the two could notice. Daphne and Marcus slowly came up to the door curiously. Draco and Hermione both pointed their wands up and silently cast "_Stupefy_!" and the two didn't even have time to block the jet of red light coming at them. They fell to the floor unconscious.

Draco and Hermione both got up, still invisible just in case anyone else wanted to come visit them. Draco materialized a phial and pulled a hair out of each of his former allies.

"What do we do with them now?" Hermione asked.

"Now that I think about it, we should Obliviate them and modify their memories to make them believe that no one was here and they didn't get Stunned. We'll need to leave the Forbidden Forest. They know now that we're up to something big and they're searching everywhere, even here."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "They've already been here and they'll believe that no one is here. I think we should just cozy up in the Gryffindor Common room if you ask me."

Draco shook his head. "No. I just know it's not a good idea."

"Because all your ideas in the last year have been wonderful, haven't they?" Hermione said.

"Granger, will you fucking cut it out? It's not safe, I just know, okay?" Draco said through gritted teeth.

Draco began to do the necessary spells on both Marcus and Daphne, ignoring Hermione's glares and mutterings under her breath.

Once he was done, Hermione said, "Let me guess, Draco. You fucked Daphne and that's why you want to spare their lives?"

Draco was at the last straw of his patience. He slammed her against the wall and she was surprised momentarily, but the surprise passed after a blink of the eye and she had a smug look on her face again.

"I didn't fuck anyone, Granger," he lied. He had fucked Astoria, but she didn't need to know that. "And don't you get it? They need to think they haven't seen any trace of us! This is why they need to be alive."

"Did you ever think of what we need to do once we come walking into London dressed as them?" Hermione asked.

Draco actually hadn't thought of that.

"We'll just work around it when we get there. It's a suicide mission, after all. We just need to get the bombs settled and then it doesn't really matter from there, does it?" he was talking more to himself.

Hermione shoved him hard. "Don't you ever slam me against a wall again, ferret!"

And she walked away leaving him frustrated as ever.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for all the reads and reviews! Keep the feedback coming! Can anyone guess what all the history has to do with the current situations and state of the world?

I hope everyone has a good holiday!


	7. What's Suppressed

**Chapter Seven**

"You'll be there tonight?" Hermione asked in between kisses.

"Yes, Lovely. I'll be there waiting for you," Theodore said with a smile. "I'll be waiting to hold your hand and tell everyone you're mine."

Hermione pulled his arms around her waist and felt significantly warmer than before. She felt nauseas in the stomach too, but it wasn't a bad thing.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Hermione asked. "I mean, a lot of people will be there."

"Lovely, only you could get everyone together for a Peace Ball," he laughed. "I think us declaring our relationship publicly may even set an example," he said happily and pulled them both down on the bed.

"And you mean that? You'll stick with me through the heat?" Hermione said, looking into his pretty brown eyes.

"Yes, of course, Lovely," Theodore said.

"All guys say that. Look at Harry…" Hermione said thoughtfully. "Who would've thought he'd get so trashed and sleep with Cho?"

"No one's perfect and it's Potter. I'm sure he's feeling extremely guilty about it now. He doesn't need his bossy know-it-all best friend rubbing it in his face," Theodore said playfully. "Besides, some things are better left unsaid, or rather said by the right people."

"Right, right," Hermione agreed. "It isn't any of my business."

"Mmhmm, but you, Lovely, are my business," Theodore said and pulled her into a deep and extremely sensual kiss that made nearly every inch of Hermione's body tingle with anticipation.

He kissed her, sucked her, tasted her, fucked her, and all around pleased her so aggressively and so perfectly with so much hunger she briefly wondered if she was in a different world – a world where only she and Theodore existed in ecstasy.

"Theo," she whimpered, gripping him tightly as he ground into her hard. "I love you," she breathed into his ear before she cried out in pure bliss.

As she lay with him, she thought about what she said. She'd never said it before, but she did love him. She'd said it out loud. It was proof, wasn't it? She'd been willing and even eager to go public with their relationship. So she didn't need to feel guilty about her past mistakes that may have not even existed. She loved him. She loved Theo.

Of course, this was the last time she'd seen him and the memory she'd dreamt about the most. She just wished this memory didn't end with her doubt, especially since even after the explosion, it still secretly lingered in her mind. Still because of a stupid mistake she wasn't even sure existed. It wasn't like she remembered…

"Granger!" Draco was poking her with his wand. "Would you wake your lazy ass up? Today's the day. We're going soon."

Hermione suppressed a very agitated groan. She decided she would try her best to not pick a fight with him today. He'd been working hard and she'd tried to help but the bomb thing wasn't her cup of tea.

"You're supposed to be the greatest witch of our time or whatever," Draco told her. He waved his wand to dismiss her. "Just go practice being Daphne for now."

She rolled her eyes each time he did this. She didn't need to practice that. They'd planned to be invisible and use the polyjuice potion as a precaution. With her luck, things were bound to go wrong anyway, but she shrugged it off and told herself she didn't care about dying as long as the building and its occupants went down with her.

She was wishy-washy with how she acted towards Draco. She did have somewhat of a heart left and she appreciated his efforts and they had, after all, at some point been friends. And she'd faced the fact that he really was the only one left that remotely cared in some fucked-up way about her. But that didn't excuse how much of a traitor he was and she still hated him for everything he did, could probably never forgive him, and definitely didn't like being civil all the time. It led to actual conversations and it was too much like they were actually friends again and they definitely were not and would never be. So she constantly switched it up to remind him that she did hate him and they weren't friends.

But today, she'd be civil and indifferent for the sake of the mission.

"I'm already awake," she said and attempted to keep herself from insulting him, but he did call her a 'lazy ass'. "Asshole," she added.

"No bad mouthing today, Granger. We don't have time."

"You started it," Hermione replied childishly. She didn't wait for a response. Instead, she got up and darted to the bathroom to get ready.

Once she walked out of the bathroom, she asked, "Why are we going in the evening again?"

He glared. "Once again, your attention span never ceases to amaze me. The evening is when everyone will be there. It's the night of a meeting. We shouldn't have too many guards on the lower level, so it'll be easy to breach. Once there, I set up the bombs and you keep guard near me. Then hopefully we get out in time for me to call the incantation to blow it up."

"It really won't be that easy. I hope you know," Hermione said.

"I know that. I used to be there all the time," he snapped. "The point is it'll be worth it."

As soon as they Apparated under the Invisibility Cloak to the closest place possible, they jumped into the sewers. Draco hid the cloak in his little bag and hid the bag in his robes.

The sewer was, in short, very disgusting. It was wet with green and brown water up to their ankles. There were rats running around in different directions and many different objects drifting along the water.

"Ugh!" Hermione couldn't help but be grossed out. She was used to dirt but she had been living in normal conditions for a couple weeks.

"Just follow me and refrain from speaking so loud," Draco said.

Hermione's mind was suddenly in a frenzy as she followed Draco down the dark tunnel, lit only by their wands. She had never considered that Draco may have been leading her into a trap. She trusted Harry's mark. But was she wise to have trusted Harry? Wasn't all this partially his fault?

"Draco," she said sternly.

He turned around to face her, "What?"

"Why should I trust you? What if you're leading me into a trap?"

Something flashed in his eyes – was it hurt? "We've already been through this-"

"It's not enough. How can I trust Harry when this was his fault?"

"It's not his fault-"

"If he knew, then it's partly his fault!" she replied impatiently. "What did he do?"

"Granger, not now. It's not the time-"

"Like hell it isn't!" she almost screamed. "I deserve to know the truth before I die!"

Draco held her against the wall firmly and whispered angrily, "Shut up! I'll tell you that he was blackmailed and he had to let it happen, mainly for selfish reasons, and somehow everything went terribly wrong for him, which he should've known. That's all you need to know. That's all I'm saying. I'll tell you the rest after we're done here."

"There isn't anything Harry would try to cover up worth risking everything for," Hermione replied hotly. She didn't know why she was defending Harry now when she'd just been mad about him.  
"Not everything is black and white, Granger. Not even Potter." He let her go, giving her a piercing look before he continued walking along the sewers.

Hermione had nothing to say to that, so she just followed behind him. Her head was swimming. She didn't know how she'd be able to concentrate tonight. _Why did you do it, Harry? What could possibly have ruined you more than friends dying?_ Everything he had worked so hard to protect was destroyed because he, the world's savior, was actually selfish. _What were you protecting, Harry?_

Her thoughts turned bitter when she realized that she shouldn't even care. What was the use? Everyone was dead anyway and she would be joining soon. So she started focusing on her new favorite thing: the kill. She hadn't done this in a while.

"We're here," Draco said and pointed up. The hole through the sewage lid showed a midnight blue sky with twinkling stars. "There's a side entrance directly from here that we can break into and take stairs down to the lower level." Draco pulled two vials from his robes. "Are you ready? We'll have an hour. It's all I could fit."

"That's fine. I doubt we'll be needing them anyway."

He handed her one vial and she put Daphne's strand of hair in it. "She's not as ugly as I thought," she commented as the liquid bubbled into a nice green color.

Draco couldn't say the same for his. Marcus looked horrible, so his potion wasn't any better looking. It was bubbling black. "Do you think it's safe?"

"He's ugly, but it'll do," Hermione said, backing away since Draco's vial smelled so bad.

They both took their potions in large gulps. Hermione felt herself changing into a much fuller and healthy body.

"Merlin, you're hideous," Hermione said when she saw Draco, or rather Marcus Flint now. He really was ugly. His hair was dark, his teeth abnormally large, and his build much too big for his tiny head.

"Come on. Let's go," Draco said. "Disillusionment Charms now."

Hermione couldn't take it, no matter how much she was trying to focus on being angry. Her heart was being tugged and she needed to know.

"Wait," she pulled on Draco's arm. "What happened to him?"

"We already went over this-"

"No, I meant do you know what happened to Nott? Theodore Nott?" And she couldn't hide the anxious look on her face. She knew it was there. The contorted pain was etched along her face and she couldn't hide it, even if it was Draco she was talking to.

Draco looked very ill for a second and he looked at her, possibly examining why the hell she'd asked about Theodore. But all he finally said was, "I don't know."

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the short chapter! Keep reading! Next chapter I drop a bomb, quite literally and figuratively. :) Thank you again, Sierra, for beta-ing this story!


	8. In Knots

**Chapter 8**

"Granger," Draco said. "Hurry up. Take my hand."

"What? Why?" Hermione questioned.

"If we charm ourselves we can't exactly see each other," Draco said with an eye roll. "Or I could just chain us together again."

Hermione glared at him and took Marcus' fat hand roughly. They then cast the charm on themselves.

Draco pulled her up spiraling steps he had conjured out of thin air. Once at the top, he slowly pushed the lid up and stepped out into the open air. It was empty and dark, save a few dim street lights. To their left was a huge building that stood out among the others.

"This is it," Draco whispered. He pulled Hermione along to a small door at the side of the building and pointed his wand, "_Alohomora_."

"You'd think they'd put more protective spells on the doors…" Hermione mumbled.

"I suppose nobody expects anyone to break in this far or even want to break in for that matter," Draco replied, opening the door. "Except us."

"What'd you do to piss them off anyway?" Hermione asked.

Draco thought about that night. He knew he would be leaving but he hadn't planned on getting caught. He was in his office packing little trinkets that he may have needed, like Harry's cloak and some vials of polyjuice potion.

Blaise suddenly came barging in. "Malfoy, how the hell did you manage to deal with Pansy through school? She's too much!" He was clearly vexed about his girlfriend.

Draco gave an exasperated sigh, "Zabini, whatever happened to knocking?"

"Sorry, Malfoy. She can be impossible sometimes," Blaise replied. He then noticed the cloak that Draco was packing. "It that the cloak? The one Potter used?"

"What of it?" Draco challenged.

"You know any useful things collected goes down to my department," Blaise said slowly.

"Sod off, Zabini. I'm busy," Draco glared.

Blaise's kept studying Draco suspiciously, until finally he attempted to send a Full-Body Bind curse at him.

In a flash Draco had Stunned Blaise and fixed his things together before walking very fast out of the building and dashing once he was in the alleys. He had a portkey already waiting for him in his little trap anyway. He didn't bother with Obliviating Blaise because they'd probably use Legilimens. He'd guessed something like this might have happened anyway. So he ran until he realized someone else was being hunted in the same alleys. It was perfect timing.

"Zabini caught me with the cloak, but I was leaving anyway," Draco told Hermione.

He looked ahead into the dark hallway in front of them. It was lit by a few candles along the way and it felt extremely cold.

"The door to the stairs should be here…" Draco dragged Hermione to another short hall on the left where there was a door.

"Wait… I can see you, Draco," Hermione said, letting go of his hand.

Draco turned around. He could see Hermione – well, Daphne – too.

"Shit," he muttered. "They must've blocked off any outsider Disillusionment Charms. It wasn't like this when I left… Let's just keep going. No one's down here."

"Yet, at least…" Hermione said in a low voice.

They walked through the doors and went down two flights of stairs. Draco took out some things and got to work once they reached the lowest level, which looked like the first hall they'd been to except maybe a little bit darker.

"Draco, give me the cloak," Hermione said.

"What?" Draco asked, fumbling with a small black box he was putting on the wall.

"Just do it."

Draco threw the cloak at her only for it to be thrown over him again.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked, alarmed.

"You need to finish that up. It's better if you're not seen. Just finish it and I'll keep a lookout."

Draco hesitated, but continued anyway. There was no sense in arguing or playing heroics. Draco was the one who knew how to set these up.

They moved along the hallway and were nearly at the middle when someone called out from a hallway to their left.

"Daph, is that you?"

Draco froze.

"Who is that?" Hermione whispered to Draco desperately.

"It's Astoria Greengrass, Daphne's younger sister," he said, panicking. "Just stun her until we're done with this."

"No. If we stun her it'll be too suspicious. Just let me deal with her and you stay down here. No matter what, don't get caught and stay down here and finish the mission," Hermione said with a distant look in her eye.

"Granger, no. Just stun her! Don't be ridiculous right now!" Draco said as he considered abandoning the mission altogether. There were some things he didn't want Hermione to go through and he didn't want her to see. The look in her eyes was distant and he knew it meant she was determined to do something reckless.

They could hear Astoria's footsteps getting closer. "Daph, I didn't know you'd be back so soon. Are you and Marcus down here having a quickie?" she giggled. It made Draco angry. Her voice was just so irritating. "The meeting's just finished but I think if you two are back you should go talk to him."

Hermione couldn't see Draco but she said very firmly to where she thought his eyes were, "Finish this, Draco. I'll be back."

"It's just me, Astoria," Hermione said, walking towards the hall Astoria was coming from.

Hermione had never seen Astoria before, but once she laid eyes on her she immediately thought that Daphne must be terribly jealous of her sister. Astoria was a full bodied, blonde beauty. The person Hermione was impersonating was an ordinary, dark-haired woman. She had a fierce look, but nothing like the luscious Astoria.

"Oh. Where's Marcus?" Astoria asked. Hermione followed her to a set of elevators, much like the ones that were in the old ministry.

"He went to do some business somewhere around the building," Hermione lied.

Astoria seemed to forget about this and went on with whatever gossip she'd been holding out on. "Being around here is so boring, Daph! Don't tell anyone I said that. But no one's good enough to shag. I wish Draco were still around. He was the best I'd ever had in a broom closet," she said reminiscently.

Hermione didn't know why, but it made her insides burn. "Astoria, we mustn't speak of wishing that traitor was back!" She hoped Daphne would say something like that.

The golden elevator started going up. "I suppose you're right," Astoria sighed. "Oh! I've heard Blaise and Pansy having a row…"

Hermione wasn't really paying attention to what Astoria was saying anymore. She was furious with Draco for saying he'd never fucked anyone when clearly he had fucked Astoria. But it didn't really matter and she didn't know why it was bugging her… what was more on her mind now was when she finally met the leader behind this whole operation. She'd meet him and kill him slowly. The thought made her smile inside. Revenge would be sweet and served cold.

The elevator doors finally opened and in front of them were a pair of doors that Hermione could only assume led to the leader's office.

"I'll be in my room, Daph. Let me know how it goes!" And Astoria scurried over to the right.

Hermione didn't need to knock on the door because Pansy came out just then.

"Oh, there you are. Thought you'd be back later, but anyway just go in. You better have a good report or he won't be happy. He's already pissed that you two didn't find them at Hogwarts. He was so sure they'd be there… anyway, I'll talk to you later."

Hermione nodded in what she hoped was a convincing way. She took a deep breath once Pansy walked away and opened the doors.

He stood in a perfectly fitted suit with a head full of dark hair. He turned around and looked at her, piercing her soul with those dark brown eyes, "Daphne. You're back."

Hermione couldn't breathe and everything had somehow become colder than it already was. She was alarmed by the frailness in her voice when she whispered to herself, "Theo."

* * *

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! It is much appreciated! And thanks again to my beta, Sierra! How many people saw this one coming?


	9. The Inner Circle

**Chapter Nine**

Draco found it hard not to take several questioning looks at Hermione before they went up to continue with their mission. Why the fuck was she asking about Theodore? Draco didn't even recall a time he'd ever seen the two together. But her face said it all. She had been wondering for the last year where Theodore was because she loved him. Hell, she may have even come back because she thought she might find him too. What an amazing secret to keep.

Draco couldn't let her break now. She was tough, but if what he assumed was correct, learning what really became of Theodore would break her completely. He needed her strong. And personally, he didn't want her to break. She didn't deserve this, too. Protecting her from the truth was the best thing to do.

Draco wasn't lying when he said he didn't know what happened to Theodore Nott. Truth be told, he had no idea what the hell happened to his quiet classmate from Hogwarts.

"What do you think, Malfoy? Have I outdone myself?" Theodore asked. It wasn't cocky, it was merely certain, confident. Draco always knew there was a reason he regarded Theodore as an equal. Theodore thought every detail through. He was brilliant… and a little crazy.

Draco, of course, had to act cool and calculating. "I'm impressed. But what amazes me is how much you know about the other side. Surely you've got a great source."

"Only the best, most satisfying source," Theodore smirked to himself at some private memory. "Well, Malfoy, we wouldn't be this far ahead without your help."

Draco didn't like to consider it help. It was more like a matter of life and death, really, if one were to generalize it…

"Anything to benefit the movement," Draco lied.

Theodore studied Draco intently and he could not help but feeling a bit uncomfortable. The fact that this former quiet schoolmate was studying him as if deciding to kill him or not was really more disconcerting than Draco was willing to admit, actually.

"As you know, I don't like being in the spotlight. There are too many complications in being known. That was Voldemort's mistake, of course, and that's why I never bothered with his movement."

Draco nodded slowly, unsure of what to make of this statement.

"Besides, I like the idea of surprise," Theodore continued. "And believe it or not, there are many people I could surprise. When we're all public, Malfoy, I'll need a right hand man. One whose name is talked about. One who takes all the glory, so to speak. Only the inner most circle knows who I am and I like to keep it that way."

Draco thought about that. It was true. The private meetings consisted of only Theodore, Draco, Daphne, Astoria, Blaise, Pansy and sometimes Marcus (if Theodore needed him). Everyone else just followed heads of their areas and didn't really know who led everything.

"How would you like to be that person, Malfoy?"

Draco swallowed. He knew the responsibility that came with that position and he didn't want it. He didn't want any of this. But did he really have a choice?

Before he could answer, a knock was heard at the door. Theodore told the person to enter and Astoria came walking in with a handful of papers. When she passed Draco, she gave him a furtive glance. Draco acknowledged it by sending an annoyed look at her back as she set the papers on Theodore's desk.

"Hi, Theo," she smiled. "Daphne told me to send these up."

Theodore smiled back pleasantly, clearly aware and appreciative of the beautiful girl in front of him, "Thank you, Astoria. You may go now. Draco and I are having an important discussion."

Astoria smiled again and left the room, staring at Draco again with bedroom eyes before shutting the door.

"Banging the young Greengrass, are you?" Theodore said in an amused tone.

"What?" Draco replied, momentarily startled by Theodore's change in conversation.

"Astoria's never been one to hide who she's fucking. That is to say, you are only fucking, right?"

"It's nothing like a relationship, if that's what you mean," Draco answered, hoping that Theodore didn't have some previous claim to her or else he'd probably be dead in a minute. "I'm not really interested anymore to be honest."

"Good for you. Astoria's really only a good fuck for the most part, not that I have or really want to, especially from what I've heard, but back to the matter at hand. Would you like to be my right hand man?"

"Are you sure I'm the right person?" Draco blurted out and suddenly felt stupid and childish for asking such a question.

"There's no one else I'd regard as a true equal," Theodore said.

"I'd be honored then," Draco smirked. He had become such an amazing liar, just like Theodore.

Fuck, Draco thought. He continued to set up the bombs, but he wasn't at ease. There was no telling what Hermione would go through. He was so stupid to just let her leave like that. To hell with her thinking she could take care of herself. Not here, not with all her enemies around, and not when there were truths he knew even she couldn't handle.

He cared too much.

Fuck, when did that happen?

A long time ago, that's when, and the memory made him feel guilty, too guilty to ever do anything about it. So guilty that he chose to run away from it as far as he could. He chose to be a coward again.  
But he wasn't going to be a coward now. He was going to set these bombs up as fast as he could and he was going to go up and save Hermione if it was the last thing he ever did.

There were four phases in this plan: getting to the headquarters, setting up the bombs, getting out of the building, and saying the incantation. He hoped he would be able to get to phase three before he had to do phase four, but seeing as how things were going, he may have had to skip phase three and just go straight to four.

As soon as he was done with the bombs he immediately dashed up the stairs. Taking the elevator would be too much of a risk, although that really shouldn't matter since this mission was pretty much shot to hell now. He just wanted to get Hermione and get out of there and watch it explode. But he hadn't the slightest clue on how he was going to do all that since they had met a few roadblocks along the way. 'Roadblocks' was putting it lightly, really. He'd anticipated this would happen somehow, even though he thought his plans were thorough. He realized they were actually very feeble. And he wanted to slap himself.

Draco was panting by the time he reached the fifth floor. He stayed in the stairway to catch his breath. He may have been invisible but he could still be heard. Perhaps the Muffliato Charm would do…  
He stepped out the door only to bump into someone. He landed on the floor with a thud. He froze, hoping to Merlin that this person wouldn't notice. Otherwise he would have to Stun her.

Astoria stared intently at the floor where Draco was. "Hmm," she said. She reached down for the floor and was so close but someone behind her called.

"Astoria!" It was Daphne with Marcus. Draco knew that it was the real Daphne because of the fact that she was with Marcus. It could only mean Hermione was in the room with Theodore and Merlin knows who else.

Astoria turned around and upon seeing her sister with Marcus, she said, "I thought you were talking to Theo?"

Daphne gave her a questioning look. "We just got back. What are you on about?"

"Just got back? But…" Astoria started, but Draco did the only thing he could think of. Pointing his wand at his former lover, he thought, "_Confundo_."

"Never mind," she mumbled.

"What were you reaching for, Astoria?" Marcus asked.

"Nothing," Astoria said automatically. "Let's go have a drink."

"What? No. We need to talk to Theodore," Daphne said.

"I'm sure that can wait," Astoria replied.

Daphne gave her an incredulous look. "Have you gone mad?"

Draco felt the situation falling out of his hands badly and things only got worse when Pansy stepped out of the room to his left and promptly tripped over him.

"What the hell?" she shrieked.

"Is there something there?" Marcus asked again, staring straight at Draco.

"I really insist we get some drinks," Astoria tried again.

"At a time like this?" Pansy asked as she got up, patting her clothes back into place. "As much as I'd like one, and I'm sure we all need one, I doubt the time is right."

Daphne squinted her eyes suspiciously at her sister. She pointed her wand and said, "_Finite_."

Draco took this opportunity to crawl into the room Pansy came from and hid behind the door where he would have access to their conversation. They were arguing and Draco knew their cover was blown. He had to think fast or else he'd die. Even though they both came on this mission knowing they could possibly die, Draco didn't want that. He wanted to take Hermione back. He wanted them to survive.

He stared down at his hands. They were morphing back into his own.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry for the lack of update! And for the terrible cliffies I've been leaving lately! Once again thanks to Sierra for beta-ing this story and to all the reads and reviews! It's all much appreciated! :D Stay tuned for the next chapter! Hermione and Theodore finally alone. Will anything be answered or will there just be more confusion?


	10. Lie to Me

**Chapter Ten**

"Where's Flint?" Theodore asked.

Hermione could not move. She felt as if she wasn't breathing and she was almost certain she was turning a sick tint of blue. She might die from the lack of oxygen. Her emotions were running wild and it took all the energy she had to just stand still.

_Breathe_, she told herself. She let out a deep breath. But she still felt weak. Her Theo was here, in front of her. And he was the enemy.

"Daphne?" Theodore stared at her intently.

"He's somewhere… he's supposed to be here," Hermione answered in a small voice. Her heart was beating faster than she'd imagined hearts could beat. There were so many things that she wanted to say, so many questions that needed answering, and so many things she wanted to do to Theodore. But her mind could only answer his questions. She was frozen.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked curiously.

"No. I mean, we weren't successful," Hermione said with a little more confidence that she imagined Daphne had in the presence of Theodore. What was that Draco had told her about their relationship?

She wished she had listened to him. She also hoped he was done with whatever he was doing. If anything, she grudgingly hoped Draco at least got out alive. He deserved to suffer alone for everything he had put her through. Well no, she actually did care about him. She cared enough to not want him to suffer death at the hands of his old allies.

Theodore stared at her with an unreadable expression. "That's to be expected. _Hermione_ and Malfoy weren't going to be easy to find. Just as all the others who struggled… We'd offered them the chance to become slaves, to join us, even, didn't we? They refused. Such a pity."

Hermione just stared. She couldn't feel her body. This wasn't the man she loved. Did that man ever exist?

"Not everyone is dead, of course. Not everyone showed up to that stupid Peace Ball. Some are still in hiding. Others chose to join us, others we've made slaves, others live among the muggles…" He made a disgusted noise at the word. "Blood purity is so important for our world. We can't have it tainted anymore. Blood-traitors can be handled, but the mudbloods… they've got to go. All of them. They are endangering our magic."

Hermione felt sick all of a sudden, and even worse when she glanced at a handful of purity and muggle-born prejudice pamphlets on his desk. Here was the man she loved, her only positive thought for the last year and the one she felt so guilty about possibly betraying, telling her that purebloods were superior and muggle-borns were endangering them. What rubbish. Why was he telling Daphne all this? Wasn't this supposed to be a meeting where she informed him of her recent search?

"Hermione Granger, though, she is the last mudblood. We got rid of the others, didn't we?"

He called her mudblood. He'd never used that word on her once. It hurt to hear it come out of his mouth and she slightly cringed.

He took slow steps towards her. Being in close proximity with him and everything she was discovering was making her dizzy. How close were Theodore and Daphne? She really wished she'd listened to Draco… wasn't Astoria saying something about Daphne messing around with Marcus? Why was Theodore getting closer and closer?

She took a step back in an attempt to keep distance between them. She flinched again when she backed into the wall. He saw and looked amused. He stepped even closer and Hermione could feel something going terribly wrong with her body.

Theodore stared at her the way a predator stared at its prey. She knew that look. She even loved that look. It once made her excited. But it only scared her now. Why was he looking at Daphne like that?

_Your wand_, she told herself. But she couldn't bring up her hand. She was too weak and frail and confused. It was like the strength she built up in the past year dwindled in the presence of the man she loved, the man she thought was dead, the man she was secretly living for. Why didn't Draco tell her the truth?

Theodore put a thumb on her lips and stroked it softly. She was surely going to die. His touch was what she dreamed of constantly. She never imagined she was dreaming of the enemy.

_What are you doing_? She wanted to say in Daphne's voice, but the only sense her body was responding to was Theodore's soft lips now on her own.

She couldn't do this.

_Why didn't you tell me, Draco_?

Her sudden anger at Draco was starting to make her senses more clear.

Theodore moved towards her ear and whispered, "The hair doesn't suit you, Lovely."

Her eyes went wide and she finally snapped back to reality. _Lovely_, he said. She'd been transformed minutes before and she suspected he knew once she walked into the room that it wasn't really Daphne. She shoved him away from her hard. He fell to the floor and she attempted to run to the door, but her grabbed her leg and tripped her. She landed facedown on the floor and dropped her wand. She desperately crawled to reach for it, but he pulled her back and she landed a kick on his arm. She crawled again, this time trying to get up, but he just pulled her back down and turned her over on her back. She attempted to punch him in the face, but he grabbed both arms and pinned them down above her head.

He moved his head down towards her to look into her eyes while settling between her legs. He kissed her and she expected it to be rough, but it was soft. He was mocking her. She suddenly felt guilty for taunting Draco so much. It wasn't a nice feeling.

He pulled away and looked at her. "You're so cold tonight."

"Get off me," she said. She had to be tough. She remembered why she was here. She had to destroy everything here, but Merlin it hurt so much. She wondered how she hadn't managed to cry yet. She was sure she'd broken inside.

"Why? You allowed yourself to be so easily caught so there must be something about this situation that you like." He pressed himself against her.

"Stop," she said firmly. She had to keep reminding herself that no matter how good it felt to be this close to him, he was the enemy. And she hated him. She never knew that the lines between love and hate could be so close.

"You never told me to stop before. If I recall correctly, it was you who came up to me that first night. It was always you who said 'don't stop'." He smirked.

"Fuck you," was all she could manage to say.

"In due time," he said with a wink. He took one of his hands away from hers and casually ran them up and down her sides. "Tell me, Lovely. How did Malfoy manage to do it?"

She didn't want to fall for the bait. She didn't want to know what he was talking about. She'd discovered enough already to make her sick for weeks. She kept her mouth shut.

"I didn't think he'd be able to do it. He said he'd be able to get you to come here. I told him he was a fool. But he did it. What did he say, Hermione?"

She stared at him and tried to keep the confusion out of her eyes, but he saw it and he smirked again.

"What did he say to get you to trust him?" he asked again.

Draco wouldn't lie to her… would he?

Of course he would, she thought. He lied to her already.

She was so confused.

"Just fucking kill me already," Hermione spat out bitterly. She couldn't take this. The lies and secrets were all too much.

"Kill you? But this was all because of you, didn't you know?"

With all the energy she had left, she freed her arms and pushed him off. She crawled as fast as she could and grabbed her wand.

"I don't want to know anymore!" She stood up and pointed her wand at him threateningly on the floor. _Kill him_, the killer inside her said, _it's what you came here to do_!

But she couldn't do it. She just stood there with her wand pointed at him. She didn't know if she could trust Draco. She didn't know what the fuck went wrong in her judgment with Theodore. She didn't know what the fuck Harry was thinking leaving her alone like this. What she knew was that it was her fault. Everything was her fault.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for my lack of updates! But here it is, another cliffie! Let me know what you think! Thanks Sierra for the beta, and thanks to all the reads and reviews!


	11. Reckless

**Chapter Eleven**

Draco sat in the corner listening to the four in the hallway arguing. But his heart wasn't really there. He was wondering why it was so important for him to save Hermione, why he felt so strongly about protecting her. It wasn't just about keeping his promise to Harry. It wasn't just about needing her help to take the enemies down. It was something more. And he didn't want to remember why. It made him feel guilty.

Hermione had just finished the last gulp of her firewhiskey. After he told her he didn't think he deserved to enjoy himself, she studied him closely and smiled. He wasn't too sure why she smiled, but there was something curious and playful in that smile.

He felt her moving closer to him and he didn't think to move away since he was disoriented himself. The next thing he knew, she had slowly snaked her arms around his neck and her face was right in front of his. Her cheeks were flushed and she smelled like liquor.

"Hermione?" He burped and she giggled. "Excuse me. I'm sorry…"

"It's okay. I think it's cute."

"What are you doing?" he asked. She was making him feel hot and he didn't know why.

"Looking at you," she said simply.

He needed to get away from her before the situation (whatever the situation was) got out of hand, so he attempted to move back. "You're really drunk," he said.

"You are, too," she said and smiled, keeping her arms firmly around his neck. She leaned forward and kissed him and he couldn't help himself. He put his arms around her tiny waist and pulled her closer. She pulled him down on top of her, still kissing him sensually and he knew they should really stop before they couldn't stop themselves.

"I don't think this is a good idea," he mumbled, pulling himself away.

She pulled him back down and searched his eyes. He was pleading for her to stop because if she kept going _he_ wouldn't be able to stop. "Draco, it's okay," she slurred. "We don't have to remember."

He gulped because this wasn't right but he looked down at her and she was so pretty. He couldn't help himself. Maybe he would forget…

But he didn't forget. He woke up in the middle of the night with Hermione nuzzled up in his arms. Both of them were naked and slightly sticky. He didn't want to let her go, but it was really the only way to go about things. He couldn't have her waking up and yelling at him for taking advantage of her. He'd feel too guilty. He needed to protect her from this night.

And she didn't remember. She never mentioned that night again. He was relieved.

But it ate him up inside. He tried so hard to forget that night, to forget the guilt. He was doing a good job, but he couldn't take it much longer. He couldn't be around her or around her friends. Thoughts of her were consuming him and there was nothing he could do about it.

The new rule came at an opportune moment. He joined them to survive, yes, but also to run away, to forget his guilt, to forget that night… even if it was the best night he'd ever had in his life.

Draco couldn't let Hermione die by the hands of the man she loved, though he wasn't sure how she could love a man like that. He wasn't even sure how the hell they had been associated. All he knew was the look on her face when she mentioned his name was love and longing.

In the spur of the moment, he decided to be reckless and just improvise. The plans weren't working out anyway.

He pointed his wand through the open slits at the side of the door and Stunned the nearest person. Marcus fell and Pansy, Daphne, and Astoria looked around wildly.

"Where did that come from?" Daphne shrieked. But she didn't get an answer because she fell to the ground as well. Two more and Draco would be in the clear. But a large hand grasped the cloak around him and he was revealed to a very angry looking Blaise Zabini. Draco's wand fell to the floor as Blaise pulled him up by his robes roughly.

"Was that my fiance you were attempting to stun, Malfoy?" Blaise said with a sneer. A flick of his wand had Draco's hands were chained behind his back.

Being reckless did not work out in his favor. He was no Gryffindor, after all.

Blaise pushed him out of the room and Draco gritted his teeth and said nothing.

"Draco!" Astoria exclaimed. Pansy shushed her.

"Well, well, if it isn't the traitor," Pansy said pleasantly, though there was an indifferent look in her eyes.

Astoria snaked an arm around his waist. "I've missed you, Draco. Have you come to stay for good?"

"We're hunting him, you imbecile! Would you just stop thinking about sex for a moment and get off of him!" Blaise growled.

Astoria pouted at him, but stepped away from Draco. Draco looked at his old allies (the two women of which he had actually slept with at one point) in disgust. They dragged him down the familiar hall.

"Where's the mudblood, Draco?" Pansy asked casually.

Draco kept his mouth shut.

"I know!" Astoria said happily. "If it wasn't Daphne I saw go into Theo's room earlier, then it must be her!"

"Polyjuice potion, eh?" Blaise said. "Well, it's sure to be worn out by now. Wonder what Theo's up to with her…"

"Let's find out," Pansy said with a grin and she opened Theodore's door.

* * *

"I think it's a good idea," Theodore told Hermione encouragingly.

"Yes, I'm going to run it by the Ministry and hopefully we can get this Peace Ball event planned by next month," Hermione replied.

"You're brilliant, Lovely." He kissed her happily. A peace ball, for all the Wizarding World, that everyone could attend. It would solve a lot of problems, ideally. She kissed him again. He was so perfect and they'd finally get to be together publicly.

Hermione was such a fool.

"You're remembering," Theodore told her as he got up. She still had her wand pointed at him. "I know that look when something is on your mind. Your eyes get distant and your face contorts into something like nostalgia."

She slashed at the air and he would've toppled over backwards if he hadn't thought quick enough to block it.

"Get away from me," she said.

He just smiled at her. "First you want me to kill you, now you want me to get away? When will you get it through your thick head that I don't intend to do either?"

Just then, Pansy, Astoria, and Blaise came barging into the room with Draco at their mercy. They tossed him on the floor.

"Look what we've found, boss," Blaise said smugly.

Draco wondered if he'd been made second in command after hearing that stupid smug tone.

"Quiet you three," Theodore said, pointing to his allies. "Malfoy, good of you to return, and with the mudblood like you promised."

"Fuck you," Draco said.

Theodore just stared at him in amusement but he was studying him curiously as well.

"Draco," Hermione's voice startled him because it didn't have the usual strength it did. It was frail. "Just tell me what the fuck is going on."

"Granger…" Draco said slowly.

"Did you tell her you killed Potter?" Theodore asked.

Hermione looked at Draco and he flinched. He forgot to mention that he did indeed kill Harry.

"It's not what it sounds like -" Draco yelled.

"Please, Malfoy, stop groveling at her feet-" Pansy started, but Theodore stopped her.

Astoria finally spoke up. "Theo!" she squealed, "Just kill the mudblood already. I'm getting bored."

Anger flashed in Theodore's eyes momentarily and he said, "I have no intention of killing Hermione."

"But she's the last mudblood!" Astoria shrieked.

"Yes, but she's _my_ mudblood, and I'm going to keep her," Theodore said with a sick and twisted smile. "I didn't tell you to capture her and not kill her for nothing. There are other plans, aren't there, Draco?"

Hermione was so confused at this point. Draco wasn't saying anything that made sense and he seemed more and more fickle about his true colors by the minute. And Theodore calling her _his_ mudblood made Hermione absolutely and dreadfully sick. After all she'd given up to Theodore he wanted to keep her like a pet? What made her feel even worse was that she still loved him. But she hated him more.

She was going to get out of here and she was going to do it now. But was she going to take Draco with her? She stared at him and his eyes were pleading for her to forgive him for lying about Harry, for lying about Theodore, for betraying her. And that look in his eyes is one she remembered when he pleaded with her to stop, on a night she tried to forget.

Without another thought, she pointed her wand up and sent jolts of blue lightning up into the ceiling. It started to collapse and the four enemies tried to duck and find cover around the room. Hermione grabbed Draco's arm, pointed to his wrists and said "_Finite_!" and they were dashing out the door and down the hall together. Draco grabbed his wand on the floor before they both darted into the stairway and ran down the stairs.

"Do it now!" Hermione screamed as they reached street level.

"I can't do it while we're in the building!" Draco yelled. He grabbed her hand now and led the way out the doors and into the street. When they were far enough from the building, he pointed his wand and called the incantation. But nothing happened.

"What's going on?" Hermione yelled.

"I can't call the incantation from this far. I've got to be closer," Draco said in horror. There was no time to move closer though, as people were starting to move closer in on them. He grabbed her hand again and they ran to the outskirts of the city just as people were beginning to run after them. They dodged curses, hexes, and spells until finally they reached the boundary where they could Apparate.

Together, they went into the Forbidden Forest once more.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the terribly late update. Computer problems. Anyhow, thank you to Sierra for being so patient in beta-ing this. And thank you to all the reads and especially reviews! It's nice to know people are actually following this story! I read them all and you all raise good points and keep me going! Thank you.


	12. Always Have

**Chapter Twelve**

Once the two of them Apparated into the Forest, they rolled down a hill. They both coughed and caught their breath and got up wobbling.

Hermione ran up to Draco and started punching him.

"Why didn't you tell me the truth?" she screamed.

He tried to block her hits and just refrain himself from hitting her back, but he started shoving her too. "Cut it out!"

They rolled down another hill, tangled in each other. Leaves and dirt and branches were getting stuck everywhere.

"You lied to me!" Hermione screamed, landing on top of him. She punched him in the face. "Why did you lie to me?"

He pushed her off of him and stood up. "Because of this! You needed to be prepared for this mission or else you'd break and you did!"

"You selfish bastard!" She yelled and lunged for him again.

They rolled around the dirty floor some more, nothing but moonlight to see each other with.

"Get off of me, Granger!" Draco yelled at her.

"You killed Harry!"

Some more rolling around ensued.

"I did it because he asked me to! I had to!"

Hermione punched him again and got up, shoving him away in the process. "Why did you lie to me about Theo?"

"Because of this! I told you!" He yelled again, wiping the blood off his mouth.

"That's it? Because I wouldn't be able to handle the mission? I deserved to know!"

Draco looked at her incredulously. "I didn't even know what the hell you had to do with Nott. And I find out all of a sudden you guys were lovers or something! What did you want me to say? The truth nearly killed you. I had to come and save you."

"Save me?" she laughed mirthlessly. "I saved you!"

"Well I had a lot more people on my ass than you! You couldn't even take him down yourself."

"That wasn't the plan!" But she knew he had a point. She needed to avoid her weakness, so she changed the subject. "Tell me about Harry now!"

Draco saw no point in trying to conceal Harry's secret now. Their plan had failed and they had nothing else. He gave Hermione the chance to fight. That's all he promised Harry.

"Nott somehow found out that Harry slept with Cho on his 21st birthday party. I hadn't the slightest idea how Nott came about this information, but now that I think of it I suppose it was you," he paused as Hermione paled. "Nott captured him and blackmailed him. He told him everything he was planning and he said if Harry tried to interfere he'd tell everyone about his little mishap with Cho. And Harry couldn't have that. Who would've thought that the golden boy himself was worried about his reputation? He was worried about Ginny leaving him. He was worried enough to risk everyone's lives."

"Harry wouldn't do that…" Hermione whispered.

"There are just some things people can't risk, no matter how selfless they seem to be. He thought he was protecting everyone by making the Unbreakable Vow with Nott, but Nott promised not to kill anyone. He hasn't killed anyone. Everyone else has."

Hermione's throat felt extremely dry. With a sickening lurch she realized that it really was all her fault. It wasn't just the ball that was her fault. She was Theodore's source. She told him everything. She was the reason Harry was blackmailed. She was the reason her friends were dead.

She whimpered. She felt so weak she fell on her knees. She coughed and nearly vomited.

Draco looked at her and he didn't know what to say. He didn't have the right words to say to her. He just set up the tent and the usual wards and went inside.

Draco took an ice cold shower despite the freezing temperature. He felt like he deserved pain. He lay down in his bed after he was done getting ready and just stared at the tent's ceiling. He wasn't able to sleep. He didn't feel like he deserved to sleep.

He heard Hermione walk into the tent in what seemed like hours later. Wordlessly she went into the bathroom. He heard her turn on the shower. When she didn't come out of the bathroom after a long while he began to worry. He knocked. She didn't answer. So he barged in.

He found her sitting in the tub with her knees to her chest, still fully clothed. The water was running down on her. He felt it and it was warm. He turned off the water and sent a drying charm her way. He stepped into the tub and stared down at her.

He wasn't sure what he should say, so they were in the silence together in the tub for several moments.

"You have to go to bed, Granger," he said finally. "You can't sleep in this tub."

She wouldn't budge. She wasn't saying anything. This concerned him. He had expected her to slap him or something. He finally got the nerve to crouch in front of her and she looked up at him with swollen eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She sniffed. A broken Hermione Granger was one he never wanted to see.

She looked like she was desperately looking for the right answer. He was afraid the only other answer he could give her was something she did not want to hear.

"Because I care about you," he said and paused for it to sink in. "I didn't want to see you hurt before you could put up a real fight, like Potter said."

She just stared at him and he picked her up. She needed rest so he carried her to her bed. She didn't protest. He wrapped a blanket around her and she just stayed where she was and closed her eyes. He went back to his own bed as well.

He was in between falling asleep and staying awake when he felt the covers next to him move. He turned over and saw Hermione settling herself in them, right next to him. Was he dreaming?

"Granger?" he asked tentatively. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to stay warm. It's freezing over there," she answered simply.

He didn't say anything and just moved over away from her. This proved to be pointless as she just moved closer.

"Stay on one side and I'll stay on the other," Draco said.

"That defeats the purpose of staying warm," she replied. She was being so uncharacteristic and Draco was confused. The woman was just beating him up earlier. Just a few minutes ago she was crying. This further proved his theory that she was bipolar.

"Uhh…" Draco was just really caught off guard by the whole thing. Were they not just in mortal danger hours ago? He didn't exactly think cuddling was appropriate.

"Draco, look at me," she said softly.

He looked at her and found a completely different expression on her face. It was soft and questioning.

"You remember it too, don't you?" she asked.

"What are you talking about?" He was lost.

"For so long I've felt guilty about it because I was in love with Theo. I still am. I guess the one good thing that came out of tonight is the truth. And I don't feel guilty about it anymore."

"I think you need to sleep, Granger. You're delirious and you aren't thinking right," Draco said slowly. Even if she was talking about _that_ night and whatever she was going on about would lead to talking about that night, he wasn't sure how coherent she was.

"No one's perfect," she said.

"That's right, Granger. Nothing is black and white. I've been trying to tell you that."

She looked at him thoughtfully. "You really care about me, don't you?"

He gulped. Why was she bringing this up? "I don't see how that is relevant at this point…"

"I've hated you for so long because you made me feel guilty, but the truth is I care about you too," she said.

Draco couldn't help but say, "You sure have an odd way of showing it."

She laughed and it was a real laugh and it was because of something he said. It felt nice and he couldn't help but laugh along with her. It was a relief for both of them. Neither of them could remember the last time they truly laughed. It'd felt like years. Maybe it was years.

"What is it you remember, Granger?" Draco didn't want to egg it on, but he wanted to know if she was talking about the same thing he was thinking of.

"Well, it had to do with a tent, not as luxurious as this, and firewhiskey, and Venezuela…" she said slowly, looking into his eyes.

And guilt washed over Draco. He shook his head, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I wanted you to forget."

"I tried so hard to forget, but only because of Theo. Now I realize that it's okay to care about you. That night was okay. You ran away too, didn't you?"

"Yes," he whispered. He had never dreamed of admitting this to anyone, least of all her. He ran away because he was a coward. He felt like he'd taken advantage of her and he tried to forget. He couldn't handle the way he felt about her or the fact that he thought he couldn't do anything about it, so he ran away. Maybe if he'd addressed the matter head on things could be different now…

She suddenly moved closer and put a hand on his face. She leaned in and kissed him. It wasn't soft but it wasn't rough either. Instinctively, he kissed her back and soon they were kissing deeply, passionately, desperately, clinging to it because in a twisted way all they had was each other. It was everything Draco had dreamed. She was soft and warm and beautiful. But it wasn't right.

Draco pulled away again and looked at her, "I still don't think this is normal. You must be disoriented. You were just beating me up earlier."

"Draco, always the voice of reason," she grinned. "I think we both need this. We don't know where we'll be tomorrow."

She was right. He didn't know where they'd be. This may be the only time for them to pretend that everything was okay. That maybe, in some other universe or some other time, they could've got over their guilt and known what it was like to be together. It wasn't possible in this reality. But tonight they'd pretend.

* * *

Hermione stared at Draco. He was naked, pale, and fast asleep. He looked so peaceful. It made her smile sadly. Before she did what she had to do, she scooted closer to him and pulled one of his arms over her. This moment would never happen again. She was holding it as long as she could, but soon it would be time to let go.

She did not love Draco. She thought maybe in some other lifetime she could've. But she cared about him and she didn't hate him. She never did.

She hated herself for not addressing that night. She knew when she woke up that something had happened. She should've known when he told her she was pretty. She should've known when he took care of her. She should've known he was in love with her and the guilt he shouldn't have felt drove him to run away, to be a coward. Part of Draco's decision to join the Dark side again was because of her.

It was her fault he turned bad. It was her fault everyone she loved was dead. It was her fault Harry had been blackmailed into cowardice. It was her fault because she fell in love with the wrong person.

She should've confronted Draco that morning and maybe given him a chance. But she chose to forget because the guilt would kill her. She loved Theodore too much. She was the biggest coward of all.

She was seriously fucked up in the head. Maybe more fucked up than Theodore.

She knew what she had to do now and she was set on doing it alone. She was going to set Draco free from this stupid responsibility. She was going to take care of what she started.

But tonight, she'd just look at Draco and pretend that everything was okay, that the way he'd so tenderly made love to her could be repeated again and again for the rest of their lives, that they could be companions living in peace.

She ran a hand through his blonde locks and stroked his face. Even if she didn't love him, he deserved to feel loved by her, at least for one night.

His eyes fluttered open. "Hermione," her name sounded so sweet coming out of his mouth.

She kissed him softly. "Shh… go to sleep."

He just looked at her. "What are you planning?"

"Nothing," she said lightly.

"I'm not going to let you leave, you know," he said. "I'm going to protect you, like Potter said."

"This isn't about Harry anymore, Draco," she said softly.

"It doesn't mean I'm going to let you leave."

"Okay," was all she could say.

"I'm serious," he said.

She knew he was, but nothing he could say would change the reality of things.

Almost nothing.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I'm afraid that this will be the last chapter for a while... I'm thinking of where I want this story headed! I promise I won't give up on it though! I have a lot written and I know how I want it to end but it's just the journey getting there! Thanks to my beta, Sierra, for being patient with me! Please leave reviews to let me know what you all think! I know this chapter revealed some things that may not have been coming! I hope you all enjoy it!


	13. Forget

****A/N: Hey everyone! I know it's been almost two years since I updated this! It's never far from my mind. It's actually one of my favorite stories I've ever written (and seemingly haven't finished). I've had chapter 13 and 14 written this whol time but I didn't want to post them up because I wasn't sure this is the direction I wanted to go. But I figure I may as well post it and work around it! Let's hope I get to continuing and finishing this story. Thank all of you readers, old (I hope you still all continue with this!) and the new. Feedback of any sort is always appreciated. Also thank you to my beta Sierra, who did this so long ago! Here now is another chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

Draco woke up and it was slightly colder than the night before. He realized it was because he was alone. Hermione had left. He didn't think about the night before. It was time to let it go. He had to focus on a more serious matter now: getting rid of the enemies, and he was going to start with Astoria.

"Hi, Draco," Astoria said as she passed him in the hallway. "Have a minute?"

Draco tried to avoid her gaze, but he met it and couldn't look away. "You know, I've really got to get to Nott's office. We've got to talk about things."

"Surely you have a minute?" Astoria said eagerly.

"Er, I guess," Draco said.

"So I haven't seen much of you lately," she started. He didn't say anything, so she continued. "I guess I'm just saying that I've missed you." Again, he didn't say anything. "Did you hear that Pansy and Blaise are engaged?"

"No, I did not hear this news, though I don't see how it is relevant…" Draco said slowly.

"Everyone's getting married!" Astoria said in an excited tone. "I think it's wonderful."

"Nott's not getting married."

"Yes, well I suppose it's because he's waiting for the right person?" Astoria replied, waving a hand carelessly. "Anyway, what do you think of coming with me to the wedding?"

"Is there even time for a wedding?" Draco asked. "I mean, we've been so busy."

"Yes, silly. Though, it might not be for a while."

"Then why are you asking me so early?"

"Well I guess the truth is I wanted to know what your marriage plans are," Astoria said finally.

Draco stared at her carefully. "I guess I never thought about it."

"Do your parents like me, Draco?"

Draco hoped the horrific thought in his mind wasn't showing on his face. He had no intentions to take Astoria home to his parents. She was a pretty girl, but even his parents knew that she was not wife material. Rumors about her had even gotten to them.

"They don't really know you all that well," Draco answered.

"I think we should change that," Astoria smiled pleasantly, eyes bright.

Draco just wanted to avoid the situation altogether so he excused himself. "We'll chat about this later, okay? I've really got to talk to Nott."

Looking back now, Draco realized this conversation must have had a lot to do with his parents' death, because it was a week later that they were killed. And he was almost certain now Astoria was behind most of it.

He remembered the night of the explosion bitterly. He'd called the incantation under a Disillusionment Charm from close proximity to the Ministry of Magic. The Dark side had planned the coup on a perfect night. They'd had others from lower divisions take care of ministry officials and aurors that wouldn't be at the Peace Ball. It was so cleverly plotted out and perfect. Draco stood from his post for a moment and saw a glimpse of Hermione and her friends coming in later and promptly decided he didn't want to call it with them in the building. So he did it before they could be harmed by it. And then he ran.

The next morning, Theodore, Pansy, Blaise, Daphne, Astoria, and Draco went to the sight and walked over the ruins of the former Ministry of Magic building.

"Your people took care of the Aurors and officials, correct?" Theodore asked Daphne.

"Yes, they did," she said with a twisted smile. "We've got the important ones taken care of. Those that resisted have been captured. We've got watches on all former important people in the Ministry now, except the few hundred that are on the run. Astoria, where's the list?"

Astoria conjured a piece of parchment with a list of important people they'd gotten rid of to ensure they'd be able to take over that day.

"There's Potter and his friends," Theodore said. "They'll be the hardest to take out. Have them and anyone who isn't crossed off that list hunted. Offer them a spot here as a slave first, and dispose of them if they refuse. But leave the mudblood Granger for me."

Draco didn't think anything of it then – he thought Theodore just wanted the prized number one mudblood for himself – but he realized now that Theodore had a very obsessive claim over her – maybe possibly more. It was in his voice but he was too busy staring at the ruins before him to notice. It was horrible and it was his doing. He couldn't show that it upset him, though. His tough exterior needed to stay up. He needed to survive.

"Pansy, we should have a new building by tonight, correct?" Theodore asked, stepping over broken stones and shards of glass.

"Yes," she nodded. "My department's already on it."

"Good," Theodore said with a quiet satisfaction. "Malfoy, let's take care of politics…"

And the two of them went to finalize their plans to announce their new rule.

The last week that Draco was still at headquarters, he'd had a meeting with Theodore alone. Theodore placed a piece of parchment on his desk. It looked like an ancient piece, ripped out of an even more ancient book.

"Do you know what that is, Malfoy?" he asked.

Draco took a look at the paper and noticed some familiar old dark spells, specifically kept secret within the pureblood society alone. These were secrets even Voldemort knew nothing about. Draco didn't think much of it, except that using any of the spells and rituals on the page would be risking a lot.

"Ancient things, those are," Draco said.

"There's only one more left, and she's the one," Theodore said with a calm satisfaction. "She's always been the one."

Draco gulped. He'd already killed Harry by this point and was planning to leave within a few days. "You mean… the one to sacrifice?"

"Yes. You've heard of the old ancient ritual. If she sacrifices herself willingly, the magic of our people will never be tainted by dirty blood again. We will be protected. And everyone's blood will be pure."

Draco knew from the beginning this whole side was fucked up; the coup and explosion at the Peace Ball and the slavery of those who resisted and constant watches on everyone who was still alive was bad enough, but to sacrifice someone in this very old ritual that was so sick not even Voldemort would've touched it… that was something else. This was pure prejudice and stupidity. They'd all be inbred if there was no one but each other to mate with. What the hell was wrong with Theodore? He'd probably thought that eventually they'd overpopulate enough so that nobody would be inbred, but the hundreds of purebloods alive probably would somehow be related, because they all distantly were already. Draco wondered what made Theodore this evil and realized that some people are just born that way. Of course, Draco didn't say any of this out loud.

"How do you suppose the girl will be willing to sacrifice herself?" Draco asked, trying to keep the horror out of his voice. "The ritual says no Unforgivable Curses may be used. She must believe in what she's doing."

"There will be a way," Theodore answered. "And when it happens, it means absolute victory for us."

Draco felt sick remembering all the bad things that had happened and he knew subconsciously that he would do everything in his power to keep Hermione away from this. He had failed once, but he wouldn't fail again. He had to go back and resume the plan.

* * *

Hermione took a deep breath and opened the door. She silently disarmed the man sitting in the chair behind his desk. The room was still a complete mess and nearly without a roof. She locked the door.

He smirked at her. "I knew you'd be back. I just didn't expect it to be so soon."

"Be quiet," she said dangerously. "I'm here to negotiate."

"I hardly think you're in the position to do that." He was amused.

She blasted a few bookshelves in the room then pointed her wand at him. "I think I am, Theo. You're going to listen or I will not hesitate to kill you. And I will do it slowly and enjoy every bit of it."

He raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his chair. "Talk then, lovely."

"I want you to stop hunting people. I want you to make it public that everyone else can live in peace. Let go of your slaves. Let them live normal lives. You can rule the UK without terrorizing everyone."

"In exchange for you not killing me, you want a word on that?" he asked, a little mockingly. "No matter what you say, you won't kill me. And even if you did kill me, there isn't any knowing what the others will do… so no, baby. You'll have to do better than that."

Hermione knew it would come to this. She had come prepared for it after all. She just hoped this bargaining chip would work.

"How badly do you want me here?"

Theodore's eyes brightened with the faintest satanic glee. "Now you're talking."

"If I stay here with you, without struggle, and do your bidding, you'll stop hunting survivors, including Draco, free slaves, and have a peaceful rule? I mean you and your whole regime, not just you… you'll be fair and let everyone lead happy lives?"

"Any other loopholes you didn't think of?"

She blinked.

"Let me help you out. If you stay here with me, without struggle and to do my bidding, I'll lead a peaceful rule. I'll stop my people from hunting survivors. I'll make peace public. And I won't have anyone going after Malfoy. In fact, he can come back if he pleases. Though, after what he finds out what Astoria did I doubt he'll want to… in any case, I can't promise to not have order. I need to protect this rule from rebellions."

"Fine. That's fair."

"Done then," Theodore replied happily. "You have my word, and I always keep my word."

Hermione's eyes narrowed. Was he really that desperate to have her around?

"Now, Hermione, love, come here," he said. She walked around his desk slowly and stood in front of him, her wand clutched firmly in her hand.

He looked up at her sweetly, "Sit on my lap." She glared at him and then slowly sat down. He wrapped an arm around her, slowly, taunting. He kissed her and she just stared. He pulled away. "You're not going to act rigid when I kiss you. Let's try that again." He kissed her again and this time she responded, opening her mouth for him, allowing him to explore with his tongue while she did the same. He pulled away, satisfied. "That's better, just as I remembered. Now, what I want from you first is simple. You're going to love me. And when I touch you," he let his hands trail along her sides and down to her thighs, "you're going to like it."

Hermione didn't find these requests hard at all. It wasn't as if she didn't miss him touching her. That would always feel good, no matter what, at least in a sick and twisted way. But she supposed Theodore and she were always somewhat sick and twisted from the beginning.

He kissed up and down her neck, moving a hand to the small of her back and caressing. Hermione couldn't help but shut her eyes with anticipation at his touch. His mouth finally reached her ear and he said, "And you're going to pretend that you really did do this for the greater good and being with me isn't really what you wanted," then he said, in a very low and husky voice, "because you know, in truth, that you really did."

He was right. It made her sick but she realized she was sick and she wanted Theodore just as she always had, and no matter what he'd done she always would.

A knock on the door had their moment interrupted. Hermione attempted to stand up, but Theodore just kept her down on his lap.

"Come in," Theodore said.

Pansy walked in and upon seeing Hermione a very disgusted look came on her face. "I see you're little mudblood is back."

"Just like I said," Theodore said.

Pansy smiled very slowly. It was an evil smile. An evil and satisfied smile. And that's when Hermione realized there was something terribly wrong with what she'd decided.

"You know what else you're going to do, Hermione?" Theodore said, tilting her head so they would face each other.

"Your word, Theo…" Hermione said slowly.

"You're going to forget," he said.

Forget?

"_Obliviate_."

* * *

A/N: So the history part of the story is done for the most part. What will happen now?


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